O2+O2 electron transfer reactivity in the quartet state from ab initio calculation including electron correlation

The structures and properties of the O₂+O₂⁻ electron transfer system in the quartet state, both in the gaseous phase and in solution, were studied at the UMP2(full)/6-311+G* basis set level for the five selected coupling structures: two T-type, collinear, parallel, and crossing. The stabilities of these encounter complexes were compared. The activation barriers, coupling matrix elements, and the electron transfer rate at two theoretical levels (semiclassical and quantum mechanical) were also calculated for the quartet state, and the effect of the solvent medium evaluated at the self-consistent reaction field level. Results indicate that the structures and properties of the encounter complexes directly affect the mechanism and rate of the electron transfer reaction, the contact distances for this O₂…O₂⁻ were generally large (3 Å), the interaction between the donor and the acceptor was weak, and the structures are floppy. The electronic transmission factor for the reacting system, O₂+O₂⁻, was less than unity (ca. 001–0.6), thus the electron transfer reaction was non-adiabatic in nature. Analysis of the dependence of relevant kinetic parameters on various influencing factors showed that the effect of the solvent medium on the coupling matrix element was small, but that on the electron transfer rate was very large, and the gaseous phase results for the molecular geometrical parameters and their contributions can directly transfer to solution. Among the five selected transition state structures, the electron transfer was more likely to take place via the T-type and the P-type structures, the rate values from two theoretical levels were in good agreement with each other and were also very close to the experimental findings. If the various anharmonic vibrational contributions, the effect of the solvent molecular electronic structures and the interaction between the reacting species and the solvent medium are taken into account, the results can be improved.