Spin-inversion mechanisms in the reactions of transition metal cations (Sc+, Ti+, V+, Cr+, Mn+, Fe+, Co+, Ni+, and Cu+) with OCS in the gas phase: A perspective from automated reaction path search calculations

The mechanisms including spin-inversion have been systematically studied for the M⁺ + OCS → MS⁺ + CO/MO⁺ + CS (M denotes a transition metal from Sc to Cu) ion-molecule reactions using the automated reaction path search method. We used the lowest mixed-spin potential energy surface obtained from the diagonalization of the spin-coupled Hamiltonian matrix, whose diagonal elements are taken to be the lowest two spin states. This scheme can effectively locate approximate minimum energy crossing points between the two potential energy surfaces with different spin multiplicities. The spin-orbit couplings at spin-inversion points have been calculated to understand the efficiencies of nonadiabatic transitions. The obtained reaction pathways and the calculated spin-orbit couplings are employed to interpret previous experimental studies.     

High‐level ab initio study of the N+(3P)+SH2 reactions in the gas phase: Role of spin‐forbidden pathways

The singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces involved in N⁺+SH₂ reactions have been explored using high‐level ab initio techniques. The geometries of the stationary points were optimized at the QCISD/6‐311G(df,p) level. The final energies were obtained in CCSD(T)/6‐311+G(3df,2p) single‐point calculations. The results obtained show that, although the N⁺(¹D)+SH₂ entrance channel is higher in energy than the N⁺(³P)+SH₂ one, most of the [H₂, S, N]⁺ singlet state cations are lower in energy than the corresponding triplets, due to their different bonding characteristics. Both singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces are quite close each other, and crossover between them can occur. The minimum energy crossing points were located by means of CASSCF(6,5) calculations. The spin‐orbit couplings show that the transition probability from the triplet to the singlet potential energy surface is significantly large. One of the most important consequences is that some of the products of the reaction, such as SH⁺, can be formed in typical spin‐forbidden processes. Since all the relevant structures along these pathways are much lower in energy than the reactants, this mechanism should be accessible even at low impact energies and therefore could be important in processes taking place in interstellar media. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Theoretical study on the reactions of Nb and Nb+ with CO2 in gas phase

Density functional theory calculations have been performed to explore the potential energy surfaces of C? O bond activation in CO₂ molecule by gas‐phase Nb atom and Nb⁺ cation for better understanding the reaction mechanism of second‐row metal with CO₂. The minimum‐energy reaction path is found to involve the spin inversion in the different reaction steps. This potential energy curve‐crossing dramatically affects the reaction energetic. The present results show that the mechanism is insertion‐elimination mechanism along the C? O bond activation reaction. All theoretical results not only support the existing conclusions inferred from early experiment but also complement the pathway and mechanism for this reaction. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Theoretical study of the photochemical reaction mechanism of bicyclo[4.1.0]hept‐2‐ene upon direct photolysis

Ab initio multiconfigurational CASSCF/MP2 method with the 6‐31G* basis set has been employed in studying the photochemistry of bicyclo[4.1.0]hept‐2‐ene upon direct photolysis. Our calculations involve the ground state (S₀) and excited states (S₁, T₁, and T₂). The ground‐state reaction pathways corresponding to the formation of the six products derived from bicyclo[4.1.0]hept‐2‐ene via two important diradical intermediates (D1 and D2) were mapped. It was found that there are various crossing points (conical intersections and singlet–triplet crossings) in the regions near D1 and D2. These crossing points imply that direct photolysis can lead to two possible radiationless relaxation routes: (1) S₁ → S₀, (2) S₁ → T₂ → T₁ → S₀. Computation indicates that the second route is not a competitive path with the first route during direct photolysis. The first route is initiated by barrierless cyclopropane bond cleavage to form two singlet excited diradical intermediates, followed by efficient decay to the ground‐state surface via three S₁/S₀ conical intersections in the regions near the diradical intermediates. All six ground‐state products can be formed via the three conical intersections almost without barrier after the decays. The barriers separating the diradical minima on S₁ from the S₁/S₀ conical intersections were found to be very small with respect to the vertical excitation energy, which can explain why the product distribution is independent of excitation wavelength. Triplet surfaces are not involved in the first route, which agrees with the fact that the product contribution was unchanged by the addition of naphthalene. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Theoretical study of mechanism of cycloaddition reaction between dimethyl‐silylene carbene [(CH3)2SiC:] and formaldehyde

The mechanism of the cycloaddition reaction between singlet dimethyl‐silylene carbene and formaldehyde has been investigated with MP2/6‐31G* method, including geometry optimization and vibrational analysis for the involved stationary points on the potential energy surface. The energies of the different conformations are calculated by zero‐point energy and CCSD (T)//MP2/6‐31G* method. From the potential energy profile, it can be predicted that the reaction has two competitive dominant reaction pathways. The main products of first dominant reaction pathway are a planar four‐membered ring product (P4) and its H‐transfer product (P4.2). The main product of second dominant reaction pathway is a silicic bis‐heterocyclic compound (P5). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

A barrier‐free atomic radical‐molecule reaction: N (2D) NO2 (2A1) mechanistic study

The reaction of N (²D) radical with NO₂ molecule has been studied theoretically using density functional theory and ab initio quantum chemistry method. Singlet electronic state [N₂O₂] potential energy surfaces (PES) are calculated at the CCSD(T)/aug‐cc‐pVDZ//B3LYP/6‐311+G(d) + ZPE and G3B3 levels of theory. All the involved transition states for generation of (2NO) and (O₂ + N₂) lie much lower than the reactants. Thus, the novel reaction N + NO₂ can proceed effectively even at low temperatures and it is expected to play a role in both combustion and interstellar processes. On the basis of the analysis of the kinetics of all pathways through which the reactions proceed, we expect that the competitive power of reaction pathways may vary with experimental conditions for the title reaction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008     

On the ion‐pair dissociation mechanisms in the small NaCl·(H2O)6 cluster: A perspective from reaction path search calculations

We performed reaction path search calculations for the NaCl·(H₂O)₆ cluster using the global reaction route mapping (GRRM) code to understand the atomic‐level mechanisms of the NaCl → Na⁺ + Cl⁻ ionic dissociation induced by water solvents. Low‐lying minima, transition states connecting two local minima and corresponding intrinsic reaction coordinates on the potential energy surface are explored. We found that the Na Cl distances at the transitions states for the dissociation pathways were distributed in a relatively wide range of 2.7–3.7 Å and that the Na Cl distance at the transition state did not correlate with the commonly used solvation coordinates. This suggests that the definition of the transition states with specific structures as well as good reaction coordinate is very difficult for the ionic dissociation process even in a small water cluster. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Generalized spin orbital GW theory for spin‐frustrated and spin‐degenerate systems

We proposed the ab initio linear combination of Gaussian type orbital (LCGTO) generalized spin orbital GW (GSO–GW) method and calculated triangular hydrogen molecules as models of the noncolinear magnetic clusters. A remarkable improvement of ionized potentials (IPs) by the GW procedure for GHFS solutions is observed in comparison with calculational results by full CI. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 84: 369–374, 2001     

Noncollinear spin density functional theory for spin‐frustrated and spin‐degenerate systems

We have implemented ab initio linear combinations of Gaussian‐type orbital calculations with generalized localized spin density approximation (GLSDA) for a dimer of equilateral H₃ as a model of the noncollinear magnetic clusters. It has been found that the GLSDA solution with the three‐dimensional noncollinear spin structure is, contrary to prior band calculations by other groups, the ground state near the O_h conformation. Further computational results are compared to that of ab initio generalized Hartree–Fock. The difference between them and the influence of the correlation correction were discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Theoretical study of the reaction of Cr+ with SCO in gas phase

To elucidate the mechanism of reaction M⁺ + SCO, the reaction of Cr⁺ + SCO has been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) with the popular hybrid functional, B3LYP, in conjunction with 6‐311+G* basis set on both the sextet and quartet potential energy surfaces (PESs). To obtain an accurate evaluation of the activation barrier and reaction energy, the coupled cluster single‐point calculations using the B3LYP structures is performed. The crossing points (CPs) of the different PESs have been localized with the approach suggested by Yoshizawa and colleagues. The involving potential energy curve‐crossing dramatically affects reaction mechanism. The present results show that the reaction mechanism is insertion‐elimination mechanism both along the C? S and C? O bond activation branches, but the C? S bond activation is much more favorable than the C? O bond activation in energy. All theoretical results not only support the existing conclusions inferred from early experiment study, but also complement the pathway and mechanism for this reaction. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

A two‐state reactivity rationale for the reaction of ta atom with acetonitrile in the gas phase

The spin‐forbidden reaction mechanism of Ta (⁴F, 5d³6s²) with CH₃CN, on two different potential surfaces (PESs) has been investigated at the B3LYP, MP2, and CCSD level of theory. Crossing points between the PESs are located using different methods, and possible spin inversion processes are discussed by means of spin‐orbit coupling calculations. As a result, the reaction system will change its spin multiplicities near this crossing seam, leading to a significant decrease in the barrier of ^2‐4TS3 from 24.17 to 5.36 kcal/mol, which makes the reaction access to a lower energy pathway and accelerate the reaction rate. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Theoretical study of mechanism of cycloaddition reaction between dichloro‐germylene carbene (Cl2GeC:) and aldehyde

The mechanism of the cycloaddition reaction between singlet dichloro‐germylene carbene and aldehyde has been investigated with MP2/6‐31G* method, including geometry optimization and vibrational analysis for the involved stationary points on the potential energy surface. The energies of the different conformations are calculated by zero‐point energy and CCSD (T)//MP2/6‐31G* method. From the potential energy profile, it can be predicted that the reaction has two competitive dominant reaction pathways. The channel (A) consists of four steps: (1) the two reactants (R1, R2) first form an intermediate INT2 through a barrier‐free exothermic reaction of 142.4 kJ/mol; (2) INT2 then isomerizes to a four‐membered ring compound P2 via a transition state TS2 with energy barrier of 8.4 kJ/mol; (3) P2 further reacts with aldehyde (R2) to form an intermediate INT3, which is also a barrier‐free exothermic reaction of 9.2 kJ/mol; (4) INT3 isomerizes to a germanic bis‐heterocyclic product P3 via a transition state TS3 with energy barrier of 4.5 kJ/mol. The process of channel (B) is as follows: (1) the two reactants (R1, R2) first form an intermediate INT4 through a barrier‐free exothermic reaction of 251.5 kJ/mol; (2) INT4 further reacts with aldehyde (R2) to form an intermediate INT5, which is also a barrier‐free exothermic reaction of 173.5 kJ/mol; (3) INT5 then isomerizes to a germanic bis‐heterocyclic product P5 via a transition state TS5 with an energy barrier of 69.4 kJ/mol. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Computational study toward understanding the photodissociation mechanism of sarin

The potential energy surface for sarin (C₄H₁₀FO₂P) dissociation into (CH₃)₂CHO+PO(F)(CH₃), CH₃+(CH₃)₂CHOPO(F), and F+(CH₃)₂CHOPO(CH₃) in the T₁ and S₁ states were investigated at the complete‐active‐space self‐consistent field (CASSCF) with the 6‐31G** and aug‐cc‐PVDZ basis sets. The different reaction pathways are characterized on the basis of the computed potential energy surface and surface crossing point, the time‐dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT) was used to calculate the vertical energies based on the CAS(8,7)/6‐31G** optimized excited structures, which may provide some new insights into the mechanism of the ultraviolet photo‐degradation of sarin molecules. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

The Role of Ligand‐Field States in the Ultrafast Photophysical Cycle of the Prototypical Iron(II) Spin‐Crossover Compound [Fe(ptz)6](BF4)2

Light‐induced excited spin‐state trapping (LIESST) in iron(II) spin‐crossover compounds, that is, the light‐induced population of the high‐spin (S=2) state below the thermal transition temperature, was discovered thirty years ago. For irradiation into metal–ligand charge transfer (MLCT) bands of the low‐spin (S=0) species the acknowledged sequence takes the system from the initially excited ¹MLCT to the high‐spin state via the ³MLCT state within ca. 150 fs, thereby bypassing low‐lying ligand‐field (LF) states. Nevertheless, these play a role, as borne out by the observation of LIESST and reverse‐LIESST on irradiation directly into the LF bands for systems with only high‐energy MLCT states. Herein we elucidate the ultrafast reverse‐LIESST pathway by identifying the lowest energy S=1 LF state as an intermediate state with a lifetime of 39 ps for the light‐induced high‐spin to low‐spin conversion on irradiation into the spin‐allowed LF transition of the high‐spin species in the NIR.     

Ab initio calculations of the ground and excited states of the ZrN molecule including spin‐orbit effects

The electronic structures with spin‐orbit effects of the zirconium nitride ZrN molecule are investigated by the methods of multireference single and double configuration interaction. The potential energy curves are calculated along with the spectroscopic constants for the lowest‐lying 34 spin‐orbit states Ω in ZrN. A good agreement is displayed by comparing the calculated spectroscopic constants with those available experimentally. The permanent dipole moments are calculated along with the vibrational energies. New results are obtained in this work for 29 spin‐orbit states and their spectroscopic constants calculated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Computational study on the mechanism for the gas‐phase reaction of dimethyl disulfide with OH

The mechanisms for the reaction of CH₃SSCH₃ with OH radical are investigated at the QCISD(T)/6‐311++G(d,p)//B3LYP/6‐311++G(d,p) level of theory. Five channels have been obtained and six transition state structures have been located for the title reaction. The initial association between CH₃SSCH₃ and OH, which forms two low‐energy adducts named as CH₃S(OH)SCH₃ (IM1 and IM2), is confirmed to be a barrierless process, The S? S bond rupture and H? S bond formation of IM1 lead to the products P1(CH₃SH + CH₃SO) with a barrier height of 40.00 kJ mol^?1. The reaction energy of Path 1 is ?74.04 kJ mol^?1. P1 is the most abundant in view of both thermodynamics and dynamics. In addition, IMs can lead to the products P2 (CH₃S + CH₃SOH), P3 (H₂O + CH₂S + CH₃S), P4 (CH₃ + CH₃SSOH), and P5 (CH₄ + CH₃SSO) by addition‐elimination or hydrogen abstraction mechanism. All products are thermodynamically favorable except for P4 (CH₃ + CH₃SSOH). The reaction energies of Path 2, Path 3, Path 4, and Path 5 are ?28.42, ?46.90, 28.03, and ?89.47 kJ mol^?1, respectively. Path 5 is the least favorable channel despite its largest exothermicity (?89.47 kJ mol^?1) because this process must undergo two barriers of TS5 (109.0 kJ mol^?1) and TS6 (25.49 kJ mol^?1). Hopefully, the results presented in this study may provide helpful information on deep insight into the reaction mechanism. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Long‐Lived Charge‐Transfer State Induced by Spin‐Orbit Charge Transfer Intersystem Crossing (SOCT‐ISC) in a Compact Spiro Electron Donor/Acceptor Dyad

We prepared conceptually novel, fully rigid, spiro compact electron donor (Rhodamine B, lactam form, RB)/acceptor (naphthalimide; NI) orthogonal dyad to attain the long‐lived triplet charge‐transfer (³CT) state, based on the electron spin control using spin‐orbit charge transfer intersystem crossing (SOCT‐ISC). Transient absorption (TA) spectra indicate the first charge separation (CS) takes place within 2.5 ps, subsequent SOCT‐ISC takes 8 ns to produce the ³NI* state. Then the slow secondary CS (125 ns) gives the long‐lived ³CT state (0.94 μs in deaerated n‐hexane) with high energy level (ca. 2.12 eV). The cascade photophysical processes of the dyad upon photoexcitation are summarized as ¹NI*→¹CT→³NI*→³CT. With time‐resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectra, an EEEAAA electron‐spin polarization pattern was observed for the naphthalimide‐localized triplet state. Our spiro compact dyad structure and the electron spin‐control approach is different to previous methods for which invoking transition‐metal coordination or chromophores with intrinsic ISC ability is mandatory.     

On the reversible O2 binding of the Fe-porphyrin complex

Electronic mechanism of the reversible O(2) binding by heme was studied by using Density Functional Theory calculations. The ground state of oxyheme was calculated to be open singlet state [Fe(S =1/2) + O(2)(S = 1/2)]. The potential energy surface for singlet state is associative, while that for triplet state is dissociative. Because the ground state of the O(2)+ deoxyheme system is triplet in the dissociation limit [Fe(S = 2) + O(2)(S = 1)], the O(2) binding process requires relativistic spin-orbit interaction to accomplish the intersystem crossing from triplet to singlet states. Owing to the singlet-triplet crossing, the activation energies for both O(2) binding and dissociation become moderate, and hence reversible. We also found that the deviation of the Fe atom from the porphyrin plane is also important reaction coordinate for O(2) binding. The potential surface is associative/dissociative when the Fe atom locates in-plane/out-of-plane.     

A graphical scheme for representing many‐electron spin‐free configurations

The present approach is a graphical technique for representing and generating primitive configurations of space orbitals for electronic systems. The graph is developed as a tree whose paths define the allowed space configurations of electrons admitting at most double occupancy for each orbital. The emphasis in the graph is on the nodes representing occupied orbitals rather than on the arcs compared with previous graphical procedures used in graphical unitary and symmetric group approaches. This leads to a compact representation of the orbital configurations and provides a computationally very efficient indexing scheme. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001