Experimental and theoretical study of the OH vibrational spectra and overtone chemistry of gas-phase vinylacetic acid

In this study we present the gas-phase vibrational spectrum of vinylacetic acid with a focus on the nu = 1-5 vibrational states of the OH stretching transitions. Cross sections for nu = 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the OH stretching vibrational transitions are derived on the basis of the vapor pressure data obtained for vinylacetic acid. Ab initio calculations are used to assist in the band assignments of the experimental spectra, and to determine the threshold for the decarboxylation of vinylacetic acid. When compared to the theoretical energy barrier to decarboxylation, it is found that the nu OH = 4 transition with thermal excitation of low frequency modes or rotational motion and nu OH = 5 transitions have sufficient energy for the reaction to proceed following overtone excitation.     

Observing the stereodynamics of chemical reactions using randomly oriented molecular beams

A new method is demonstrated to study the stereodynamics of simple chemical reactions that does not require the use of oriented (or aligned) molecular beams or measurements of the orientation state of product molecules. Instead, it is shown that by numerically combining accurate measurements of the state-to-state differential cross section for two or more rotational states of the reagent molecule, the separate contribution from the individual helicity states can be extracted. New molecular beam experiments are conducted for the D+H(2)-->HD+H reaction that confirm the validity of the method.     

用准经典轨迹的理论方法研究H+ +H2反应

在新的势能面上,用准经典轨迹的方法对H H2反应体系进行了动力学研究．理论计算的结果发现,这个反应体系的前向和后向的角分布基本是对称的．同时还给出了在不同碰撞能下这个反应体系的转动态的分布情况．在碰撞能的从0．124到1．424 eV时,反应H H2的积分截面是随着碰撞能的增加而逐渐降低的．而且理论计算结果与实验结果也符合的非常好．     

Will water act as a photocatalyst for cluster phase chemical reactions? Vibrational overtone-induced dehydration reaction of methanediol

The possibility of water catalysis in the vibrational overtone-induced dehydration reaction of methanediol is investigated using ab initio dynamical simulations of small methanediol-water clusters. Quantum chemistry calculations employing clusters with one or two water molecules reveal that the barrier to dehydration is lowered by over 20 kcal/mol because of hydrogen-bonding at the transition state. Nevertheless, the simulations of the reaction dynamics following OH-stretch excitation show little catalytic effect of water and, in some cases, even show an anticatalytic effect. The quantum yield for the dehydration reaction exhibits a delayed threshold effect where reaction does not occur until the photon energy is far above the barrier energy. Unlike thermally induced reactions, it is argued that competition between reaction and the irreversible dissipation of photon energy may be expected to raise the dynamical threshold for the reaction above the transition state energy. It is concluded that quantum chemistry calculations showing barrier lowering are not sufficient to infer water catalysis in photochemical reactions, which instead require dynamical modeling.     

Chemical reaction dynamics of Rydberg atoms with neutral molecules: a comparison of molecular-beam and classical trajectory results for the H(n)+D2-->HD+D(n') reaction

Recent molecular-beam experiments have probed the dynamics of the Rydberg-atom reaction, H(n)+D2-->HD+D(n) at low collision energies. It was discovered that the rotationally resolved product distribution was remarkably similar to a much more limited data set obtained at a single scattering angle for the ion-molecule reaction H++D2-->D++HD. The equivalence of these two problems would be consistent with the Fermi-independent-collider model (electron acting as a spectator) and would provide an important new avenue for the study of ion-molecule reactions. In this work, we employ a classical trajectory calculation on the ion-molecule reaction to facilitate a more extensive comparison between the two systems. The trajectory simulations tend to confirm the equivalence of the ion+molecule dynamics to that for the Rydberg-atom+molecule system. The theory reproduces the close relationship of the two experimental observations made previously. However, some differences between the Rydberg-atom experiments and the trajectory simulations are seen when comparisons are made to a broader data set. In particular, the angular distribution of the differential cross section exhibits more asymmetry in the experiment than in the theory. The potential breakdown of the classical model is discussed. The role of the "spectator" Rydberg electron is addressed and several crucial issues for future theoretical work are brought out.     

A simple picture for the rotational enhancement of the rate for the F + HCl --> HF + Cl reaction: a dynamical study using a new ab initio potential energy surface

Quantum scattering calculations for the reaction F + HCl --> HF + Cl are performed on a new ground-state ab initio potential energy surface. The reagent rotation is found to have a dramatic effect on the reaction probability. Furthermore, the exit channel rotational thresholds leave a strong imprint on the reaction probabilities and even on the cumulative reaction probability. A very simple vibrationally adiabatic model is shown to account for most aspects of the reaction dynamics. In this model, the fast vibrational motion is adiabatically eliminated leaving the key reaction dynamics represented by a reduced atom + rotor collision. The shape of the adiabatic potential surface immediately yields to a simple and intuitive interpretation for the rotational enhancement of the rate. The rotational enhancement is shown to be an effect of the entrance channel dynamics of the atom-rotor problem.