Stereo‐dynamics of the F + HCl → HF + Cl reaction

We present a quasi‐classical trajectory (QCT) study on product polarization for the reaction F(²P) + HCl(v = 0, j = 0) → HF + Cl(²P) on a recently computed 1² A′ ground‐state surface reported by Deskevich et al. J Chem Phys, 2006, 124, 224303. Four polarization dependent generalized differential cross‐sections (2π/σ)(dσ₀₀/dω_t), (2π/σ)(dσ₂₀/dω_t), (2π/σ)(dσ₂₂₊/dω_t), and (2π/σ)(dσ_21?/dω_t) were calculated in the center‐of‐mass frame at four different collision energies. The obtained P(θ_r), P(?_r), and P(θ_r, ?_r), which denote respectively the distribution of angles between k and j′, the distribution of dihedral angle denoting k‐k′‐j′ correlation and the angular distribution of product rotational vectors in the form of polar plots, indicate that the degree of rotational alignment of the product HF molecule is strong and the degree of the rotational alignment decreases as collision energy increases. The product rotational angular momentum vector j′ is not only aligned, but also oriented along the y‐axis, and the molecular rotation of the product prefers an in‐plane reaction mechanism rather than the out‐of‐plane mechanism. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011