A Gaussian-2 ab initio study of [C2H5S] ions: III. H2 and CH4 eliminations from CH3CHSH and CH3SCH2

Gaussian-2 ab initio calculations were performed to examine the six modes of unimolecular dissociation of cis-CH₃CHSH⁺ (1⁺), trans-CH₃CHSH⁺ (2⁺), and CH₃SCH₂⁺ (3⁺): 1⁺→CH₃⁺+trans-HCSH (1); 1⁺→CH₃+trans-HCSH⁺ (2); 1⁺→CH₄+HCS⁺ (3); 1⁺→H₂+c-CH₂CHS⁺ (4); 2⁺→H₂+CH₃CS⁺ (5); and 3⁺→H₂+c-CH₂CHS⁺ (6). Reactions (1) and (2) have endothermicities of 584 and 496 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively. Loss of CH₄ from 1⁺ (reaction (3)) proceeds through proton transfer from the S atom to the methyl group, followed by cleavage of the C–C bond. The reaction pathway has an energy barrier of 292 kJ mol⁻¹ and a transition state with a wide spectrum of nonclassical structures. Reaction (4) has a critical energy of 296 kJ mol⁻¹ and it also proceeds through the same proton transfer step as reaction (3), followed by elimination of H_2. Formation of CH₃CS⁺ from 2⁺ (reaction (5)) by loss of H₂ proceeds through protonation of the methine (CH) group, followed by dissociation of the H₂ moiety. Its energy barrier is 276 kJ mol⁻¹. On both the MP2/6-31G* and QCISD/6-31G* potential-energy surfaces, the H₂ 1,1-elimination from 3⁺ (reaction (6)) proceeds via a nonclassical intermediate resembling c-CH₃SCH₂⁺ and has a critical energy of 269 kJ mol⁻¹.     

OH (A Σ) fragment emission from reaction of electronically excited Xe(6p) with H2O under free jet and bulb conditions

The state-selective energy transfer from two-photon excited Xe(6p) to H₂O and the subsequent reaction has been studied by measured of emission spectra of OH (A ²Σ⁺ → X ²Π). The vibrational population ratios, N_v=1/N_v=0, are 0.52 ± 0.01 in a free jet and 0.37 ± 0.02 in a bulb. This reveals the difference in dissociation dynamics following the intra-complex and the intermolecular electronic energy transfers from Xe(6p) to H₂O.     

The chemical production of electronically excited states in the H/NF2 system

A mixture of NF₃ and Ar is passed through an rf discharge in a flow-system to produce, among other species, F and NF₂. When H₂, D₂, or CH₄ are added downstream, reactions with F atoms produce vibrationally excited HF or DF together with H, D, or CH₃. The latter free radicals can react with NF₂, probably by an elimination reaction to produce electronically excited NF: NF₂(²B₁) + H(D, CH₃) → HF^*(DF^* + NF(a¹Δ). A vibrational-to-electronic energy transfer process between the products of this reaction then produces the next higher state of NF: HF(ν 2) + NF(a¹Δ) → HF(ν−2) + NF(b¹Σ⁺). A similar transfer process has also been found between the electronically excited a¹Δ states of O₂ and NF: O₂(a¹Δ) + NF(a¹Δ) → O₂(X³Σ⁻) + NF(b¹Σ⁺). The H or D atoms but not the CH₃ radicals are then found to react with either NF(a¹Δ) or NF(X³Σ⁻) to produce electronically excited N(₂D) atoms, which in turn react with the NF(a¹Δ) molecules to produce N₂(B³Π_g). The observed nitrogen first positive radiation has been demonstrated to be produced entirely by this reaction mechanism rather than by the N(⁴S) recombination that accounts for the Rayleigh afterglow. In addition, the occurrence of the reaction N(₂D) + N₂O → NO(B²Π_r) + N₂ (X¹Σ⁺_g) has been verified. Finally we have observed emission at 3344 Å, which we attribute to the NF(A³Π), which has not been previously reported.     

Photodissociation spectroscopy of Mg—Ar

Mg⁺—Ar ion—molecule complexes are produced in a pulsed supersonic nozzle cluster source. The complexes are mass selected and studied with laser photodissociation spectroscopy in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer system. An electronic transition assigned as X ²Σ⁺ → ²Π is observed with an origin at 31387 cm⁻¹ (vac) for ²⁴Mg⁺—Ar. The ²⁴Mg⁺—Ar spectrum is characterized by a 15 member progression with a frequency (ω′_e) of 272 cm⁻¹. An extrapolation of this progression fixes the excited state dissociation energy (D′_o) at 5552 cm⁻¹. The corresponding ground-state value (D″_o) is 1270 cm⁻¹ (3.6 kcal/mol). The ²Π _, spin—orbit splitting is 76 cm⁻.     

Ab initio molecular orbital study of potential energy surface for the H2NO(B1)→NO(Π)+H2 reaction

The mechanism of the H₂NO(²B₁)→NO(²Π)+H₂ reaction has been examined using ab initio molecular orbital methods. Ground-state and first-excited-state potential surfaces were plotted at the FOCI/cc-pVTZ level of theory as functions of two appropriate internal degrees of freedom. A conical intersection was found on the C_s pathway that is symmetric with respect to the plane perpendicular to the molecular plane of C_2v H₂NO(²B₁). It is therefore considered that trajectories that start from H₂NO(²B₁) towards the product region detour around the conical intersection, pass through the neighborhood of the transition state that is located at the saddle point on the C_s pathway, and finally reach the products, NO(²Π)+H₂. Thus we can explain the mechanism of the H₂NO(²B₁)→NO(²Π)+H₂ reaction, which has remained unclear to date.     

Ab initio study of the two competitive channels HO2 + H → H2 + O2 and HO2 + H → H2O + O

Saddle point geometries and barrier heights have been calculated for the H abstraction reaction HO₂(²A″)+H(²S) → H₂(¹Σ⁺_g)+O₂(³Σ⁻_g) and the concerted H approach-O removing reaction HO₂ (²A″)+H(²S) → H₂O(¹A₁)+O(³P) by using SDCI wavefunctions with a valence double-zeta plus polarization basis set. The saddle points are found to be of C_s symmetry and the barrier heights are respectively 5.3 and 19.8 kcal by including size consistent correction. Moreoever kinetic parameters have been evaluated within the framework of the TST theory. So activation energies and the rate constants are estimated to be respectively 2.3 kcal and 0.4×10⁹ ℓ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ for the first reaction, 20.0 kcal and 5.4.10⁻⁵ ℓ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ for the second. Comparison of these results with experimental determinations shows that hydrogen abstraction on HO₂ is an efficient mechanism for the formation of H₂ + O₂, while the concerted mechanism envisaged for the formation of H₂O + O is highly unlikely.     

Non-statistical H-atom recombination: A gross kinetic effect with “spectroscopic sensitivity”

The orbiting resonance theory of hydrogen-atom recombination predicts a non-statistical ortho-to-para ratio for the molecular hydrogen formed via this mechanism. It is shown that the predicted (o/p) ratio changes very drastically due to a recent increase of only 4 cm⁻¹ in the experimental ground-state dissociation energy of H₂(X¹Σ_g⁺).     

Laser induced photodissociation spectroscopy: Br2

The continuous absorption spectrum of molecular bromine has been examined using laser induced photodissociation spectroscopy. In this technique, Br₂ molecules are photolyzed using a flashlamp-pumped dye laser; the atomic products of the dissociation are then monitored by time-resolved resonance absorption spectroscopy in the vacuum ultraviolet. The relative absorptivities for the transitions B³Π_o⁺u ← X¹Σ⁺_g and ¹Π_1u ← X¹Σ⁺_g have been obtained at 18350, 21010 and 22125 cm⁻¹.     

Quenching of the dissociative electron attachment resonances of O2 physisorbed on amorphous ice

Measurements of electron stimulated desorption (ESD) yields of O⁻, at incident electron energies below 20 eV, from 0.15 monolayers (ML) of O₂ physisorbed at 20 K on a variety of molecular solids have been performed. It is observed that for O₂ condensed on 4 ML of H₂O, the O⁻ signal from dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to O₂ is entirely absent. We attribute this to a complete quenching of the dissociative ²Π_u, ²Σ⁺_g, and ²Σ⁺_u, resonances of O⁻₂ by the adjacent water molecules.     

Vibrational relaxation and electronic mutation of metastable nitrogen molecules generated by nitrogen atom recombination on cobalt and nickel

The recombination of nitrogen atoms on polycrystalline samples of cobalt and nickel produces metastable electronically excited nitrogen molecules, probably N₂(W³Δ_u), which are collisionally transferred to the N₂(B³Πg) state. Information about vibrational relaxation of the metastable state by N₂(X¹Σ⁺_g) is inferred from composition dependent changes in the observed first positive emission spectrum [N₂9A³Σ⁺_g)−N₂(B³Π_g] with the aid of multilevel, steady-state, kinetic model.     

A Theoretical Study on the Potential Energy Surface of the C3 + NO Reaction

The reaction of linear form carbon cluster C₃ molecules in their ¹Σ ground state with NO (X²Π) radicals is explored theoretically to investigate the formation of hitherto undetected NCCCO molecules in the interstellar medium via a neutral-neutral reaction. The doublet potential energy surface is worked out by the ab initio MO calculations at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)+ZPE level of theory. It is shown that the main pathway of the C₃(¹Σ)+NO(X²Π) reaction involves the N-atom of NO attacking the side C-atom of the ¹C₃ molecule first to form the adduct CCCNO, followed by the N-shift to give I6 CCNCO, and then to the main products P₁ (CCN+CO). Alternatively, I6 can be converted via the N-shift again to I9 (CN)CCO, and then it leads to the minor products P₂ (CNC+CO) and P₃ NCCCO. Since the three pathways have zero threshold energy and proceed via strongly bound energized complexes, they should possess the character of negative temperature dependence, and might be quite rapid even at very low temperature. The reaction represents facile neutral-neutral pathways to produce hitherto undetected CCN, CNC and NCCCO molecules in interstellar environments.     

Theoretical determination of the ionization potentials of the 1σ and 2σ electrons of CO(Σ)

Large-basis-set calculations of near Hartree-Fock accuracy were performed on CO⁺(1σ-hole ²Σ⁺) and CO⁺)2σ-hole, ²Σ⁺); correlation energies for these systems and for CO were calculated using an atoms-in-molecule approach, relativistic energies and vibrational structure corrections were also considered. The results are: IP(CO, 1σ) = 542.4 (542.57) eV, IP(CO,2σ) = 297.0 (296.24) cV, D_c(CO, ¹Σ⁺) = 10.8 (11.1) Ev, D₃(CO⁺, 1σ, ²Σ⁺) = 11.9 eV, D_e(CO⁺, 2σ, ²Σ⁺) = 9.1 eV, where IP and D_e stand respectively for ionization potential and dissociation energy, and where the numbers in parentheses refer to the most recent experimental values. The electron transfers resulting from the ionization of inner-shell electrons are discussed. Finally a quantitative correlation is developed correlating absolute chemical shifts to charge densities. Agreement between the calculated values and those derived from the correlation is quite satisfactory.     

Autoionization spectra of Li2 and the XΣg ground state of Li2: Experimental and theoretical investigations

Autoionizing Rydberg levels of Li₂ molecules in a supersonic molecular beam are populated by stepwise excitation with two tunable pulsed dye lasers. The observed autoionization spectra show severe perturbations. Based on calculations of quantum defects and a perturbation treatment of l-uncoupling a tentative assignment of Rydberg series up to n = 32 is proposed. The convergence limits of these series yield a value of IP = 41475 cm⁻¹ for the adiabatic ionization potential and a vibrational constant ω_e = 263 cm⁻¹ for the X²Σ⁺_g ground state of Li⁺₂. The experimental results are compared with ab initio calculations combined with a core polarization potential, which yield the potential curve. the dissociation energy, the quadrupole moment and the vibrational frequency for the X²Σ⁺_g ground state of Li⁺₂, in the excellent agreement with experimental findings.     

Classical trajectory calculation for ion-pair formation in K+O2 collisions

Three-dimensional trajectory surface hopping calculations were performed on two diabatic energy surfaces. The covalent surface describes the K(²S) + O₂(³Σ⁻_g) state and the ionic surface K⁺(¹S) + O⁻₂(²Π_g). Transitions from one surface to another were computed through the Landau—Zener model. At small deflection angles, the energy loss distribution exhibits two peaks, as observed, due to O⁻₂ in its electronic ground state and to vibrationally excited O⁻₂.     

The effect of reagent translational energy in the reaction O(D2) + H2 → OH(Π) + H

Quasiclassical trajectory calculations have been performed to determine the effect of reactant collision energy on product state distributions in the reaction O(¹D) + H₂ → OH(²Π) + H. The product vibrational distribution becomes more excited as the collision energy is increased. This is not due to an increase in the cross section for collinear abstraction. A detailed analysis has shown that strong O---H₂ repulsion, which occurs during the insertion of the O into the H---H bond, converts the kinetic energy of the reacting system to vibrational motion of the intermediate.     

A quantum mechanical analysis on the selective production of the oxygen atom fine-structure states along asymmetric resonances in OH predissociation

Predissociation of the A ²Σ⁺ state is treated by an exact theory employing two frame transformation matrices, each of which connects the atomic term limits (O(³P) and O(¹D)) to the correlating adiabatic Born—Oppenheimer states. Resonances corresponding to the higher (v 7) rovibrational levels of the A ²Σ⁺ state are predicted to have asymmetric (Fano-type) profiles. The branching ratios of O(³P_j, J = 0, 1, 2) are shown to be influenced by nonadiabatic interactions in the Franck—Condon region between the A ²Σ⁺ and dissociative ⁴Σ⁻, ²Σ⁻ and ⁴Π states. The branching ratios show a strong variation along asymmetric resonances, while remaining energy independent along Lorentzian resonances.     

Reaction dynamics of the Ca(D2, PJ) + CH3I → CaI + CH3 system: chemiluminescence, energy disposal and product polarization

The Ca(¹D₂, ³P_J) + CH₃ → CaI(A,B) + CH₃ reactions system has been studied by measuring its chemiluminescence under beam-gas conditions. Absolute values of the state-to-state reaction cross-sections were determined at low collision energy . In addition, the electronic branching ratio and product energy disposal have been determined for each metastable reaction. The major changed observed in the chemiluminescence when comparing the Ca(¹D₂) reaction versus that of Ca(³P_J) is the total yield associated with the former reaction. To the best of our spectral resolution neither the electronic branching ratio e.g. CaI(A)/CaI(B) nor the internal CaI energy disposal change significantly as the metastable Ca(¹D₂)/Ca(³P_J) ratio is varied. In spite of the fact that the Ca(³P_J) reaction is less exoergic, the CaI product appears with a higher fraction of internal energy than that of Ca(¹D₂) reaction. Thus, the fraction of the total energy appearing in CaI internal energy amounts to 57.5% in the Ca(³P_J) reaction while it is 19.3% only for the Ca(¹D₂) reaction. This difference is discussed in the light of a distinct mechanism associated with the attack of the excited Ca atom into the C---I bond. No significant chemiluminescence yield was found for the energetically open CaCH^*₃ channels.

The product chemiluminescence polarization was also measured as a function of the metastable concentration. A significant degree of polarization was found depending upon the specific electronic excitation. The analysis of the polarization emission associated to the parallel CaI(X ²Σ⁺ ← B ²Σ⁺) emission led into a strong polarization of the product rotational angular momentum. The comparison of the product rotational alignment for the kinematically identical Ca(¹D₂, ³P_J, ¹P₁) + CH₃ → CaI^* (B₂Σ⁺) + CH₃ reaction system showed that the CaI rotational polarization diminishes in the ³P_J → ¹D₂ → ¹P₁ sequence, e.g. as the reaction exothermicity increases. In addition the degree of polarization associated with other emission bands as for example CaI(X ²Σ⁺ ← A ²Π_1/2) indicates the presence of a parallel transition which was been interpreted as mixing of Hund's case (a) and (c) appropriate for this heavy CaI diatom produced with a high rotational excitation.     

Cationic and anionic states of CF, CCl, SiF and SiCl. Some new information derived using translational energy spectroscopy

Translational-energy spectroscopy was applied to collisional-excitation and charge-inversion reactions of CF⁺, CCl⁺, SiF⁺ and SiCl⁺ in order to gain energetic and bond-length information about the anionic and excited-cationic states of the title molecules. The excitation spectra revealed that the ã³Π state, known in CCl⁺ and SiCl⁺, has a term energy of 4.85 ± 0.15 eV in CF⁺ and 4.70 ± 0.20 eV in SiF⁺, while the 1¹Π state, known in CCl⁺, is not below the dissociation threshold in CF⁺, SiF⁺ and SiCl⁺. These data, and bond-length estimates for the ã³Π states, are consistent with documented ab initio predictions except for r_e of CF⁺(ã³Π) which seems to be larger than 1.21 Å. Charge-inversion spectra indicated that beams of monohalide cations formed from the tetrahalides, contained substantial proportions of ã³Π-state ions, and, in the case of CCl, SiF and SiCl, the broadness of spectral peaks was taken as evidence for the stability of the ã¹Δ-state anion. Adiabatic electron affinities were deduced to be 0.49 ± 0.15 eV, 0.89 ± 0.20 eV, 1.34 ± 0.30 eV and 1.40 ± 0.30 eV for the title molecules, respectively.     

Matrix isolation infrared spectroscopic and theoretical study of noble gas coordinated dipalladium–dioxygen complexes

The reaction products of palladium atoms with molecular oxygen in solid argon have been investigated using matrix isolation infrared absorption spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. In addition to the previously reported mononuclear palladium–dioxygen complexes: Pd(η²–O₂) and Pd(η²–O₂)₂, dinuclear palladium–dioxygen complexes: Pd₂(η²–O₂) and Pd₂(η²–O₂)₂ were formed under visible light irradiation and were identified on the basis of isotopic substitution and theoretical calculations. In addition, experiments doped with xenon in argon coupled with theoretical calculations suggest that the Pd(η²–O₂), Pd₂(η²–O₂) and Pd₂(η²–O₂)₂ complexes are coordinated by two argon or xenon atoms in solid argon matrix, and therefore, should be regarded as the Pd(η²–O₂)(Ng)₂, Pd₂(η²–O₂)(Ng)₂ and Pd₂(η²–O₂)₂(Ng)₂ (NgAr or Xe) complexes isolated in solid argon.     

CAS SCF and contracted CI calculations on the HO3 radical

CAS SCF and CCI calculations have been performed in order to establish the existence or non-existence of the HO₃ radical. The potential surface for the dissociation reaction, HO₃ → O₂(³Σ) + OH, along one chosen coordinate has been calculated. The calculations show that although the wavefunctions describing the short-distance and long-distance states are of different character, the energies are the same and the curve connecting the states is very flat. There is probably no barrier towards dissociation of the radical. However, the existence of HO₃ can still not be excluded.