A multilayered representation,quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics study of the CH3F + OH− reaction in water

The bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (S_N2) reaction of CH₃F + OH^? in aqueous solution was investigated using a combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics approach. Reactant complex, transition state, and product complex along the reaction pathway were analyzed in water. The potentials of mean force were calculated using a multilayered representation with the DFT and CCSD(T) level of theory for the reactive region. The obtained free energy activation barrier for this reaction at the CCSD(T)/MM representation is 18.3 kcal/mol which agrees well with the experimental value at ～21.6 kcal/mol. Both the solvation effect and solute polarization effect play key roles on raising the activation barrier height in aqueous solution, with the former raising the barrier height by 3.1 kcal/mol, the latter 1.5 kcal/mol. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Free energies for degradation reactions of 1,2,3-trichloropropane from ab initio electronic structure theory

Electronic structure methods were used to calculate the gas and aqueous phase reaction energies for reductive dechlorination (i.e., hydrogenolysis), reductive β-elimination, dehydrochlorination, and nucleophilic substitution by OH? of 1,2,3-trichloropropane. The thermochemical properties ΔH(f)°(298.15 K), S°(298.15 K, 1 bar), and ΔG(S)(298.15 K, 1 bar) were calculated by using ab initio electronic structure calculations, isodesmic reactions schemes, gas-phase entropy estimates, and continuum solvation models for 1,2,3-trichloropropane and several likely degradation products: CH3?CHCl?CH2Cl, CH2Cl?CH2?CH2Cl, C?H2?CHCl?CH2Cl, CH2Cl?C?H?CH2Cl, CH2═CCl?CH2Cl, cis-CHCl═CH?CH2Cl, trans-CHCl═CH?CH2Cl, CH2═CH?CH2Cl, CH2Cl?CHCl?CH2OH, CH2Cl?CHOH?CH2Cl, CH2═CCl?CH2OH, CH2═COH?CH2Cl, cis-CHOH═CH?CH2Cl, trans-CHOH═CH?CH2Cl, CH(═O)?CH2?CH2Cl, and CH3?C(═O)?CH2Cl. On the basis of these thermochemical estimates, together with a Fe(II)/Fe(III) chemical equilibrium model for natural reducing environments, all of the reactions studied were predicted to be very favorable in the standard state and under a wide range of pH conditions. The most favorable reaction was reductive β-elimination (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?32 kcal/mol), followed closely by reductive dechlorination (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?27 kcal/mol), dehydrochlorination (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?27 kcal/mol), and nucleophilic substitution by OH? (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?25 kcal/mol). For both reduction reactions studied, it was found that the first electron-transfer step, yielding the intermediate C?H2?CHCl?CH2Cl and the CH2Cl?C?H?CH2Cl species, was not favorable in the standard state (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ +15 kcal/mol) and was predicted to occur only at relatively high pH values. This result suggests that reduction by natural attenuation is unlikely.     

Energetics and mechanism of the decomposition of trifluoromethanol

The thermal instability of alpha-fluoroalcohols is generally attributed to a unimolecular 1,2-elimination of HF, but the barrier to intramolecular HF elimination from CF3OH is predicted to be 45.1 +/- 2 kcal/mol. The thermochemical parameters of trifluoromethanol were calculated using coupled-cluster theory (CCSD(T)) extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. High barriers of 42.9, 43.1, and 45.0 kcal/mol were predicted for the unimolecular decompositions of CH2FOH, CHF2OH, and CF3OH, respectively. These barriers are lowered substantially if cyclic H-bonded dimers of CF3OH with complexation energies of approximately 5 kcal/mol are involved. A six-membered ring dimer has an energy barrier of 28.7 kcal/mol and an eight-membered dimer has an energy barrier of 32.9 kcal/mol. Complexes of CF3OH with HF lead to strong H-bonded dimers, trimers and tetramers with complexation energies of approximately 6, 11, and 16 kcal/mol, respectively. The dimer, CH3OH:HF, and the trimers, CF3OH:2HF and (CH3OH)2:HF, have decomposition energy barriers of 26.7, 20.3, and 22.8 kcal/mol, respectively. The tetramer (CH3OH:HF)2 gives rise to elimination of two HF molecules with a barrier of 32.5 kcal/mol. Either CF3OH or HF can act as catalysts for HF-elimination via an H-transfer relay. Because HF is one of the decomposition products, the decomposition reactions become autocatalytic. If the energies due to complexation for the CF3OH-HF adducts are not dissipated, the effective barriers to HF elimination are lowered from approximately 20 to approximately 9 kcal/mol, which reconciles the computational results with the experimentally observed stabilities.     

Model identity SN2 reactions CH3X + X- (X = F, Cl, CN, OH, SH, NH2, PH2): Marcus theory analyzed

The structures of seven gas phase identity S(N)2 reactions of the form CH(3)X + X(-) have been characterized with seven distinct theoretical methods: RHF, B3LYP, BLYP, BP86, MP2, CCSD, and CCSD(T), in conjunction with basis sets of double and triple zeta quality. Additionally, the energetics of said reactions have been definitively computed using focal point analyses utilizing extrapolation to the one-particle limit for the Hartree-Fock and MP2 energies using basis sets of up to aug-cc-pV5Z quality, inclusion of higher order correlation effects [CCSD and CCSD(T)] with basis sets of aug-cc-pVTZ quality, and additional auxiliary terms for core correlation and scalar relativistic effects. Final net activation barriers for the reactions are E(b)(F,F)= -0.8, E(b)(Cl,Cl)= 1.6, E(b)(CN,CN)= 28.7, E(b)(OH,OH)= 14.3, E(b)(SH,SH)= 13.8, E(b)(NH2,NH2)= 28.6, and E(b)(PH2,PH2)= 25.7 kcal mol(-1). General trends in the energetics, specifically the performance of the density functionals, and the component energies of the focal point analyses are discussed. The utility of classic Marcus theory as a technique for barrier predictions has been carefully analyzed. The standard Marcus theory results show disparities of up to 9 kcal mol(-1) with respect to explicitly computed results. However, when alternative approaches to Marcus theory, independent of the well-depths, are considered, excellent performance is achieved, with the largest deviations being under 3 kcal mol(-1).     

Benchmark calculations of reaction energies, barrier heights, and transition-state geometries for hydrogen abstraction from methanol by a hydrogen atom

We report benchmark calculations of reaction energies, barrier heights, and transition-state geometries for the reaction of CH(3)OH with H to produce CH(2)OH and H(2). Highly accurate composite methods, such as CBS, G2, G3S, G3X, G3SX, and multi-coefficient correlation methods (MCCMs), are used to calibrate lower-cost methods. We also performed single-level CCSD(T) calculations extrapolated to the infinite-basis limit on the basis of aug-cc-pVXZ (X = 3, 4) correlation consistent basis sets. The benchmark high-level calculations give consensus values of the forward reaction barrier height and the reaction energy of 9.7 kcal/mol and - 6.4 kcal/mol, respectively. To evaluate the accuracy of cost-efficient methods that are potentially useful for dynamics studies of the title reaction, we further include the results obtained by hybrid density functional theory methods and hybrid meta density functional theory methods that have recently been designed for chemical kinetics. Results obtained by popular semiempirical methods are also given for comparison. On the basis of the benchmark gas-phase results, we suggest MC-QCISD/3, MC3BB, and BB1K as reasonably accurate and affordable electronic structure methods for calculating dynamics for the title reaction.     

About the barriers to reaction of CCl4 with HFeOH and FeCl2

The reactions of zerovalent iron with water and carbon tetrachloride are of interest for environmental remediation of contaminated water and soil. Atom-dropping experiments have shown that the reactions of iron atoms with water and CCl(4) may produce HFeOH and FeCl(2), respectively, but these compounds are themselves unreactive toward CCl(4) at the low temperatures under which the atom-dropping experiments were performed. We report a modeling study of these reactions using density functional theory, ab initio Hartree-Fock and couple-cluster theory, and principles of Marcus-Hush theory to characterize the underlying intrinsic barriers and rationalize the experimental results. Electron-correlated CCSD(T) calculations (at B3LYP/TZVP optimized structures) show that the transition state for Cl atom transfer from CCl(4) to HFeOH arises from crossing of electronic states in which the configuration of Fe changes from a quintet high spin state in the Fe(II) reactant to a sextet high spin state in the Fe(III) products. The crossing point is 23.8 kcal/mol above a long-range precursor complex that is 2.1 kcal/mol more stable than the separated reactants. The electronic structure changes in these Cl atom transfer reactions involve unpairing of d electrons in Fe(II) and their recoupling with Cl-C σ bond electrons. These processes can be conveniently described by invoking the self-exchange reactions HFeOH/HFeClOH, FeCl(2)/FeCl(3), and CCl(4)/(?)CCl(3) for which we determined the energy barriers to be 15.5, 13.1, 18.6 kcal/mol, respectively. For the cross reaction FeCl(2)/CCl(4), we estimated a barrier of 16.6 kcal/mol relative to the separated reactants and 21.1 kcal/mol from the precursor complex. The magnitudes of the reaction barriers are consistent with reports of the absence of products in the atom-dropping experiments.     

Definitive ab initio studies of model SN2 reactions CH(3)X+F- (X=F,Cl, CN,OH, SH,NH(2), PH(2))

The energetics of the stationary points of the gas-phase reactions CH(3)X+F(-)-->CH(3)F+X(-) (X=F, Cl, CN, OH, SH, NH(2) and PH(2)) have been definitively computed using focal point analyses. These analyses entailed extrapolation to the one-particle limit for the Hartree-Fock and MP2 energies using basis sets of up to aug-cc-pV5Z quality, inclusion of higher-order electron correlation [CCSD and CCSD(T)] with basis sets of aug-cc-pVTZ quality, and addition of auxiliary terms for core correlation and scalar relativistic effects. The final net activation barriers for the forward reactions are: E (b/F,F)=-0.8, E (b/F, Cl)=-12.2, E (b/F,OH)=+13.6, E b/F,OH=+16.1, E b/F,SH=+2.8, Eb/F, NH=+32.8, and E b/F,PH =+19.7 kcal x mol(-1). For the reverse reactions E b/F,F= -0.8, Eb/Cl,F =+18.3, E b/CN,F=+12.2, E b/OH,F =-1.8, E b/SH,F =+13.2, E b/NH(2),=-1.5, and E b/PH(2) =+9.6 kcal x mol(-1). The change in energetics between the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ reference prediction and the final extrapolated focal point value is generally 0.5-1.0 kcal mol(-1). The inclusion of a tight d function in the basis sets for second-row atoms, that is, utilizing the aug-cc-pV(X+d)Z series, appears to change the relative energies by only 0.2 kcal x mol(-1). Additionally, several decomposition schemes have been utilized to partition the ion-molecule complexation energies, namely the Morokuma-Kitaura (MK), reduced variational space (RVS), and symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) techniques. The reactant complexes fall into two groups, mostly electrostatic complexes (FCH(3).F(-) and ClCH(3).F(-)), and those with substantial covalent character (NCCH(3).F(-), CH(3)OH.F(-), CH(3)SH.F(-), CH(3)NH(2).F(-) and CH(3)PH(2).F(-)). All of the product complexes are of the form FCH(3).X(-) and are primarily electrostatic.     

The entrance complex, transition state, and exit complex for the F + H2O → HF + OH reaction. Definitive predictions. Comparison with popular density functional methods

Following the H + H(2) and F + H(2) reactions, the fluorine atom - water system has the potential to become one of the best understood chemical reactions. Stationary points for the F + H(2)O potential energy surface have been located with the "Gold Standard" CCSD(T) method using the Dunning correlation consistent basis sets through quintuple zeta. The CCSD(T)/cc-pV5Z barrier height is prediced to be 2.5 kcal mol(-1), less than previous estimates of 4-7 kcal mol(-1). From higher level theoretical studies of the prototypical F + H(2) reaction, this barrier should be less than 0.5 kcal mol(-1) above the exact, nonrelativistic classical barrier height. 41 of the 49 DFT methods applied to F + H(2)O predict no barrier at all. The eight DFT methods that do predict a barrier show exothermicities that are somewhat too small. The CCSD(T)/cc-pV5Z entrance complex is bound by 3.4 kcal mol(-1) relative to separated F + H(2)O. The analogous exit complex is bound by 5.9 kcal mol(-1) relative to separated HF + OH.     

Chemo- and periselectivity in the addition of [OsO2(CH2)2] to ethylene: a theoretical study

Quantum chemical calculations by using density functional theory at the B3LYP level have been carried out to elucidate the reaction course for the addition of ethylene to [OsO2(CH2)2] (1). The calculations predict that the kinetically most favorable reaction proceeds with an activation barrier of 8.1 kcal mol(-1) via [3+2] addition across the O=Os=CH2 moiety. This reaction is -42.4 kcal mol(-1) exothermic. Alternatively, the [3+2] addition to the H2C=Os=CH2 fragment of 1 leads to the most stable addition product 4 (-72.7 kcal mol(-1)), yet this process has a higher activation barrier (13.0 kcal mol(-1)). The [3+2] addition to the O=Os=O fragment yielding 2 is kinetically (27.5 kcal mol(-1)) and thermodynamically (-7.0 kcal mol(-1)) the least favorable [3+2] reaction. The formal [2+2] addition to the Os=O and Os=CH2 double bonds proceeds by initial rearrangement of 1 to the metallaoxirane 1 a. The rearrangement 1-->1 a and the following [2+2] additions have significantly higher activation barriers (>30 kcal mol(-1)) than the [3+2] reactions. Another isomer of 1 is the dioxoosmacyclopropane 1 b, which is 56.2 kcal mol(-1) lower in energy than 1. The activation barrier for the 1-->1 b isomerization is 15.7 kcal mol(-1). The calculations predict that there are no energetically favorable addition reactions of ethylene with 1 b. The isomeric form 1 c containing a peroxo group is too high in energy to be relevant for the reaction course. The accuracy of the B3LYP results is corroborated by high level post-HF CCSD(T) calculations for a subset of species.     

Heats of formation and singlet-triplet separations of hydroxymethylene and 1-hydroxyethylidene

Thermochemical parameters of hydroxymethylene (HC:OH) and 1-hydroxyethylidene (CH3C:OH) were evaluated by using coupled-cluster, CCSD(T), theory, in conjunction with the augmented correlation consistent, aug-cc-pVnZ, basis sets, with n = D, T, Q, and 5, extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. The predicted value at 298 K for Delta Hf(CH2O) is -26.0 +/- 1 kcal/mol, as compared to an experimental value of -25.98 +/- 0.01 kcal/mol, and for Delta Hf(CH:OH) it is 26.1 +/- 1 kcal/mol. The hydroxymethylene-formaldehyde energy gap is 52.1 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, the singlet-triplet separation of hydroxymethylene is Delta E(ST)(HC:OH) = 25.3 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, the proton affinity is PA(HC:OH) = 222.5 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, and the ionization energy is IEa(HC:OH) = 8.91 +/- 0.04 eV. The predicted value at 298 K for Delta Hf(CH3CHO) is -39.1 +/- 1 kcal/mol as compared to an experimental value of -40.80 +/- 0.35 kcal/mol, and for Delta Hf(CH3C:OH) it is 11.2 +/- 1 kcal/mol. The hydroxyethylidene-acetaldehyde energy gap is 50.6 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, the singlet-triplet separation of 1-hydroxyethylidene is Delta E(ST)(CH3C:OH) = 30.5 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, the proton affinity is PA(CH3C:OH) = 234.7 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, and the ionization energy is IEa(CH3C:OH) = 8.18 +/- 0.04 eV. The calculated energy differences between the carbene and aldehyde isomers, and, thus, the heats of formation of the carbenes, differ from the experimental values by 2.5 kcal/mol.     

Ab initio prediction of the gas- and solution-phase acidities of strong Brønsted acids: the calculation of pKa values less than -10

The intrinsic gas-phase acidities of a series of 21 Br?nsted acids have been predicted with G3(MP2) theory. The G3(MP2) results agree with high level CCSD(T)/CBS acidities for H(2)SO(4), FSO(3)H, CH(3)SO(3)H, and CF(3)SO(3)H to within 1 kcal/mol. The G3(MP2) results are in excellent agreement with experimental gas-phase acidities in the range 342-302 kcal/mol to within <1 kcal/mol for 14 out of 15 acids. Five of the six acids in the range of 302-289 kcal/mol had an average deviation of 5.5 kcal/mol and the strongest acid, (CF(3)SO(2))(3)CH, deviated by 15.0 kcal/mol. These high-level calculations strongly suggest that the experimental acidities in this very acidic part of the scale need to be remeasured. The CCSD(T)/CBS (mixed exponential Gaussian) additive approach for CH(3)CO(2)H, HNO(3), H(2)SO(4), CH(3)SO(3)H, FSO(3)H, and CF(3)SO(3)H gives excellent agreement (+/-1 kcal/mol) with experiment for the DeltaH(f)(0)'s of non-sulfur containing species, and supports the low end of the experimental values for H(2)SO(4) and FSO(3)H. Use of a larger basis set (aug-cc-pV5Z) in the CBS extrapolation improves the agreement with experiment for both H(2)SO(4) and FSO(3)H. The G3(MP2) heats of formation for RSO(3)H molecules tend to be underestimated as compared to the CCSD(T)/CBS approach by 2.5-7.0 kcal/mol. COSMO solvation calculations were used to predict solution free energies and pK(a) values with pK(a)'s up to -17.4. Including the solvation of the proton gives good agreement with experimental pK(a) values in the very acidic regime, whereas it is less reliable for weaker acids. The use of CH(3)CO(2)H and HNO(3) as reference acids in the less acidic and more acidic regions of the scale, respectively, provided improved results to within +/-2 pK(a) units in nearly all cases (+/-3 kcal/mol accuracy).     

Mechanism of the hydration of carbon dioxide: direct participation of H2O versus microsolvation

Thermochemical parameters of carbonic acid and the stationary points on the neutral hydration pathways of carbon dioxide, CO 2 + nH 2O --> H 2CO 3 + ( n - 1)H 2O, with n = 1, 2, 3, and 4, were calculated using geometries optimized at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. Coupled-cluster theory (CCSD(T)) energies were extrapolated to the complete basis set limit in most cases and then used to evaluate heats of formation. A high energy barrier of approximately 50 kcal/mol was predicted for the addition of one water molecule to CO 2 ( n = 1). This barrier is lowered in cyclic H-bonded systems of CO 2 with water dimer and water trimer in which preassociation complexes are formed with binding energies of approximately 7 and 15 kcal/mol, respectively. For n = 2, a trimeric six-member cyclic transition state has an energy barrier of approximately 33 (gas phase) and a free energy barrier of approximately 31 (in a continuum solvent model of water at 298 K) kcal/mol, relative to the precomplex. For n = 3, two reactive pathways are possible with the first having all three water molecules involved in hydrogen transfer via an eight-member cycle, and in the second, the third water molecule is not directly involved in the hydrogen transfer but solvates the n = 2 transition state. In the gas phase, the two transition states have comparable energies of approximately 15 kcal/mol relative to separated reactants. The first path is favored over in aqueous solution by approximately 5 kcal/mol in free energy due to the formation of a structure resembling a (HCO 3 (-)/H 3OH 2O (+)) ion pair. Bulk solvation reduces the free energy barrier of the first path by approximately 10 kcal/mol for a free energy barrier of approximately 22 kcal/mol for the (CO 2 + 3H 2O) aq reaction. For n = 4, the transition state, in which a three-water chain takes part in the hydrogen transfer while the fourth water microsolvates the cluster, is energetically more favored than transition states incorporating two or four active water molecules. An energy barrier of approximately 20 (gas phase) and a free energy barrier of approximately 19 (in water) kcal/mol were derived for the CO 2 + 4H 2O reaction, and again formation of an ion pair is important. The calculated results confirm the crucial role of direct participation of three water molecules ( n = 3) in the eight-member cyclic TS for the CO 2 hydration reaction. Carbonic acid and its water complexes are consistently higher in energy (by approximately 6-7 kcal/mol) than the corresponding CO 2 complexes and can undergo more facile water-assisted dehydration processes.     

Computational study on the mechanisms and energetics of trimethylindium reactions with H2O and H2S

The reactions of trimethylindium (TMIn) with H2O and H2S are relevant to the chemical vapor deposition of indium oxide and indium sulfide thin films. The mechanisms and energetics of these reactions in the gas phase have been investigated by density functional theory and ab initio calculations using the CCSD(T)/[6-31G(d,p)+Lanl2dz]//B3LYP/[6-31G(d,p)+Lanl2dz] and CCSD(T)/[6-31G(d,p)+Lanl2dz] //MP2/[6-31G(d,p)+Lanl2dz] methods. The results of both methods are in good agreement for the optimized geometries and relative energies. When TMIn reacts with H2O and H2S, initial molecular complexes [(CH3)3In:OH2 (R1)] and [(CH3)3In:SH2 (R2)] are formed with 12.6 and 3.9 kcal/mol binding energies. Elimination of a CH4 molecule from each complex occurs with a similar energy barrier at TS1 (19.9 kcal/mol) and at TS3 (22.1 kcal/mol), respectively, giving stable intermediates (CH3)2InOH and (CH3)2InSH. The elimination of the second CH4 molecule from these intermediate products, however, has to overcome very high and much different barriers of 66.1 and 53.2 kcal/mol, respectively. In the case of DMIn with H2O and H2S reactions, formation of both InO and InS is exothermic by 3.1 and 30.8 kcal/mol respectively. On the basis of the predicted heats of formation of R1 and R2 at 0 K and -20.1 and 43.6 kcal/mol, the heats of formation of (CH3)2InOH, (CH3)2InSH, CH3InO, CH3InS, InO, and InS are estimated to be -20.6, 31.8, and 29.0 and 48.4, 35.5, and 58.5 kcal/mol, respectively. The values for InO and InS are in good agreement with available experimental data. A similar study on the reactions of (CH3)2In with H2O and H2S has been carried out; in these reactions CH3InOH and CH3InSH were found to be the key intermediate products.     

Ab initio and DFT benchmark study for nucleophilic substitution at carbon (SN2@C) and silicon (SN2@Si)

To obtain a set of consistent benchmark potential energy surfaces (PES) for the two archetypal nucleophilic substitution reactions of the chloride anion at carbon in chloromethane (S(N)2@C) and at silicon in chlorosilane (S(N)2@Si), we have explored these PESes using a hierarchical series of ab initio methods [HF, MP2, MP4SDQ, CCSD, CCSD(T)] in combination with a hierarchical series of six Gaussian-type basis sets, up to g polarization. Relative energies of stationary points are converged to within 0.01 to 0.56 kcal/mol as a function of the basis-set size. Our best estimate, at CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ, for the relative energies of the [Cl(-), CH(3)Cl] reactant complex, the [Cl-CH(3)-Cl](-) transition state and the stable [Cl-SiH(3)-Cl](-) transition complex is -10.42, +2.52, and -27.10 kcal/mol, respectively. Furthermore, we have investigated the performance for these reactions of four popular density functionals, namely, BP86, BLYP, B3LYP, and OLYP, in combination with a large doubly polarized Slater-type basis set of triple-zeta quality (TZ2P). Best overall agreement with our CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ benchmark is obtained with OLYP and B3LYP. However, OLYP performs better for the S(N)2@C overall and central barriers, which it underestimates by 2.65 and 4.05 kcal/mol, respectively. The other DFT approaches underestimate these barriers by some 4.8 (B3LYP) to 9.0 kcal/mol (BLYP).     

13C, 18O, and D fractionation effects in the reactions of CH3OH isotopologues with Cl and OH radicals

A relative rate experiment is carried out for six isotopologues of methanol and their reactions with OH and Cl radicals. The reaction rates of CH2DOH, CHD2OH, CD3OH, (13)CH3OH, and CH3(18)OH with Cl and OH radicals are measured by long-path FTIR spectroscopy relative to CH3OH at 298 +/- 2 K and 1013 +/- 10 mbar. The OH source in the reaction chamber is photolysis of ozone to produce O((1)D) in the presence of a large excess of molecular hydrogen: O((1)D) + H2 --> OH + H. Cl is produced by the photolysis of Cl2. The FTIR spectra are fitted using a nonlinear least-squares spectral fitting method with measured high-resolution infrared spectra as references. The relative reaction rates defined as alpha = k(light)/k(heavy) are determined to be: k(OH + CH3OH)/k(OH + (13)CH3OH) = 1.031 +/- 0.020, k(OH + CH3OH)/k(OH + CH3(18)OH) = 1.017 +/- 0.012, k(OH + CH3OH)/k(OH + CH2DOH) = 1.119 +/- 0.045, k(OH + CH3OH)/k(OH + CHD2OH) = 1.326 +/- 0.021 and k(OH + CH3OH)/k(OH + CD3OH) = 2.566 +/- 0.042, k(Cl + CH3OH)/k(Cl + (13)CH3OH) = 1.055 +/- 0.016, k(Cl + CH3OH)/k(Cl + CH3(18)OH) = 1.025 +/- 0.022, k(Cl + CH3OH)/k(Cl + CH2DOH) = 1.162 +/- 0.022 and k(Cl + CH3OH)/k(Cl + CHD2OH) = 1.536 +/- 0.060, and k(Cl + CH3OH)/k(Cl + CD3OH) = 3.011 +/- 0.059. The errors represent 2sigma from the statistical analyses and do not include possible systematic errors. Ground-state potential energy hypersurfaces of the reactions were investigated in quantum chemistry calculations at the CCSD(T) level of theory with an extrapolated basis set. The (2)H, (13)C, and (18)O kinetic isotope effects of the OH and Cl reactions with CH3OH were further investigated using canonical variational transition state theory with small curvature tunneling and compared to experimental measurements as well as to those observed in CH4 and several other substituted methane species.     

Hydrogen/chlorine exchange reactions of gaseous carbanions

Gas-phase reactions of three typical carbanions CH(2)NO(2)(-), CH(2)CN(-), and CH(2)S(O)CH(3)(-) with the chloromethanes CH(2)Cl(2), CHCl(3), and CCl(4), examined by tandem mass spectrometry, show a novel hydrogen/chlorine exchange reaction. For example, reaction between the nitromethyl anion CH(2)NO(2)(-) and carbon tetrachloride CCl(4) forms the ion CHClNO(2)(-). The suggested reaction mechanism involves nucleophilic attack by CH(2)NO(2)(-) at the chlorine of CCl(4) followed by proton transfer within the resulting complex [CH(2)ClNO(2) + CCl(3)(-)] to form CHClNO(2)(-) and CHCl(3). Two other carbanions CH(2)CN(-) and CH(2)S(O)CH(3)(-) also undergo the novel hydrogen/chlorine exchange reactions with CCl(4) but to a much smaller extent, their higher nucleophilicities favoring competitive nucleophilic attack reactions. Proton abstraction is the exclusive pathway in the reactions of these carbanions with CHCl(3). While CH(2)CN(-) and CH(2)S(O)CH(3)(-) promote mainly proton abstraction and nucleophilic displacement in reactions with CH(2)Cl(2), CH(2)NO(2)(-) does not react.     

Molecular orbital calculations of ring opening of the isoelectronic cyclopropylcarbinyl radical, cyclopropoxy radical, and cyclopropylaminium radical cation series of radical clocks

Detailed molecular orbital calculations were directed to the cyclopropylcarbinyl radical (1), the cyclopropoxy radical (2), and the cyclopropylaminium radical cation (3) as well as their ring-opened products. Since a considerable amount of data are published about cyclopropylcarbinyl radicals, calculations were made for this species and related ring-opened products as a reference for 2 and 3 and their reactions. Radicals 1-3 have practical utility as "radical clocks" that can be used to time other radical reactions. Radical 3 is of further interest in photoelectron-transfer processes where the back-electron-transfer process may be suppressed by rapid ring opening. Calculations have been carried out at the UHF/6-31G*, MP4//MP2/6-31G*, DFT B3LYP/6-31G*, and CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//QCISD/cc-pVDZ levels. Energies are corrected to 298 K, and the barriers between species are reported in terms of Arrhenius E(a) and log A values along with differences in enthalpies, free energies, and entropies. The CCSD(T)-calculated energy barrier for ring opening of 1 is E(a) = 9.70, DeltaG* = 8.49 kcal/mol, which compares favorably to the previously calculated value of E(a) = 9.53 kcal/mol by the G2 method, but is higher than an experimental value of 7.05 kcal/mol. Our CCSD(T)-calculated E(a) value is also higher by 1.8 kcal/mol than a previously reported CBS-RAD//B3LYP/6-31G* calculation. The cyclopropoxy radical has a very small barrier to ring opening (CCSD(T), E(a) = 0.64 kcal/mol) and should be a very sensitive time clock. Of the three series studied, the cyclopropylaminium radical cation is most complex. In agreement with experimental data, bisected cyclopropylaminium radical cation is not found, but instead a ring-opened species is found. A perpendicular cyclopropylaminium radical cation (4) was found as a transition-state structure. Rotation of the 2p orbital in 4 to the bisected array results in ring opening. The minimum onset energy of photoionization of cyclopropylamine was calculated to be 201.5 kcal/mol (CCSD(T)) compared to experimental values of between about 201 and 204 kcal/mol. Calculations were made on the closely related cyclopropylcarbinyl and bicyclobutonium cations. Stabilization of the bisected cyclopropylcarbinyl conformer relative to the perpendicular species is much greater for the cations (29.1 kcal/ mol, QCISD) compared to the radicals (3.10 kcal/mol, QCISD). A search was made for analogues to the bicyclobutonium cation in the radical series 1 and 2 and the radical cation series 3. No comparable species were found. A rationale was made for some conflicting calculations involving the cyclopropylcarbinyl and bicyclobutonium cations. The order of stability of the cyclopropyl-X radicals was calculated to be X = CH2 > X = O > X = NH2+, where the latter species has no barrier for ring opening. The relative rate of ring opening for cyclopropyl-X radicals X = CH2 to X = O was calculated to be 3.1 x 10(6) s(-1) at 298 K (QCISD).     

Theoretical prediction of the heats of formation of C2H5O* radicals derived from ethanol and of the kinetics of beta-C-C scission in the ethoxy radical

Thermochemical parameters of three C(2)H(5)O* radicals derived from ethanol were reevaluated using coupled-cluster theory CCSD(T) calculations, with the aug-cc-pVnZ (n = D, T, Q) basis sets, that allow the CC energies to be extrapolated at the CBS limit. Theoretical results obtained for methanol and two CH(3)O* radicals were found to agree within +/-0.5 kcal/mol with the experiment values. A set of consistent values was determined for ethanol and its radicals: (a) heats of formation (298 K) DeltaHf(C(2)H(5)OH) = -56.4 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol (exptl: -56.21 +/- 0.12 kcal/mol), DeltaHf(CH(3)C*HOH) = -13.1 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol, DeltaHf(C*H(2)CH(2)OH) = -6.2 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol, and DeltaHf(CH(3)CH(2)O*) = -2.7 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol; (b) bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of ethanol (0 K) BDE(CH(3)CHOH-H) = 93.9 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol, BDE(CH(2)CH(2)OH-H) = 100.6 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol, and BDE(CH(3)CH(2)O-H) = 104.5 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol. The present results support the experimental ionization energies and electron affinities of the radicals, and appearance energy of (CH(3)CHOH+) cation. Beta-C-C bond scission in the ethoxy radical, CH(3)CH2O*, leading to the formation of C*H3 and CH(2)=O, is characterized by a C-C bond energy of 9.6 kcal/mol at 0 K, a zero-point-corrected energy barrier of E0++ = 17.2 kcal/mol, an activation energy of Ea = 18.0 kcal/mol and a high-pressure thermal rate coefficient of k(infinity)(298 K) = 3.9 s(-1), including a tunneling correction. The latter value is in excellent agreement with the value of 5.2 s(-1) from the most recent experimental kinetic data. Using RRKM theory, we obtain a general rate expression of k(T,p) = 1.26 x 10(9)p(0.793) exp(-15.5/RT) s(-1) in the temperature range (T) from 198 to 1998 K and pressure range (p) from 0.1 to 8360.1 Torr with N2 as the collision partners, where k(298 K, 760 Torr) = 2.7 s(-1), without tunneling and k = 3.2 s(-1) with the tunneling correction. Evidence is provided that heavy atom tunneling can play a role in the rate constant for beta-C-C bond scission in alkoxy radicals.