An Analysis of Molecular Electrostatic Potentials Obtained by a Local Density Functional Approach

Local density functional theory (DFT-LDA) has been explored as a tool for obtaining the molecular electrostatic potential V(r), using the code DMol. We have presented and discussed DFT-LDA electrostatic potentials for a representative series of molecules: ethylene, benzene, formamide, cytosine, and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. V(r) results obtained with a double numerical plus polarization (DNP) basis set show the key features that are characteristic of the ab initio potentials of these compounds and suggest that this is a useful approach, especially for large molecules that are difficult to study by ab initio methods.