Kinetic modeling of the benzyl + HO2 reaction

Benzyl is a resonantly stabilized radical that commonly occurs as an intermediate in the combustion of aromatic compounds. The bimolecular reaction of benzyl with HO₂ is important in the oxidation of toluene, especially at low to moderate temperatures, where unimolecular decomposition of the benzyl radical is slow. We show that the addition of HO₂ to the methylene site in benzyl produces a vibrationally excited benzylhydroperoxide adduct, with over 60 kcal mol⁻¹ (251 kJ mol⁻¹) of excess energy above the ground state. RRKM simulations are performed on the benzyl + HO₂ reaction, using thermochemical and kinetic parameters obtained from ab initio calculations, with variational transition state theory (VTST) for treatment of barrierless radical + radical reaction kinetics. Our results reveal that the benzyl + HO₂ reaction proceeds predominantly to the benzoxyl radical + OH at temperatures of around 800 K and above, with the production of stabilized benzylhydroperoxide molecules dominating at lower temperatures. The heat of formation of the benzyl radical is calculated as 52.5 kcal mol⁻¹ (219.7 kJ mol⁻¹) at the G3B3 level of theory, in relative agreement with other recent determinations of this value.