Ab initio potential energy surface and quantum dynamics for the H + CH4 → H2 + CH3 reaction

A new full-dimensional potential energy surface for the title reaction has been constructed using the modified Shepard interpolation scheme. Energies and derivatives were calculated using the UCCSD(T) method with aug-cc-pVTZ and 6-311++G(3df,2pd) basis sets, respectively. A total number of 30,000 data points were selected from a huge number of molecular configurations sampled by trajectory method. Quantum dynamical calculations showed that the potential energy surface is well converged for the number of data points for collision energy up to 2.5 eV. Total reaction probabilities and integral cross sections were calculated on the present surface, as well as on the ZBB3 and EG-2008 surfaces for the title reaction. Satisfactory agreements were achieved between the present and the ZBB3 potential energy surfaces, indicating we are approaching the final stage to obtain a global potential energy surface of quantitative accuracy for this benchmark polyatomic system. Our calculations also showed that the EG-2008 surface is less accurate than the present and ZBB3 surfaces, particularly in high energy region.     

Reduced dimensionality spin-orbit dynamics of CH3 + HCl ⇌ CH4 + Cl on ab initio surfaces

A reduced dimensionality quantum scattering method is extended to the study of spin-orbit nonadiabatic transitions in the CH(3) + HCl ? CH(4) + Cl((2)P(J)) reaction. Three two-dimensional potential energy surfaces are developed by fitting a 29 parameter double-Morse function to CCSD(T)/IB//MP2/cc-pV(T+d)Z-dk ab initio data; interaction between surfaces is described by geometry-dependent spin-orbit coupling functions fit to MCSCF/cc-pV(T+d)Z-dk ab initio data. Spectator modes are treated adiabatically via inclusion of curvilinear projected frequencies. The total scattering wave function is expanded in a vibronic basis set and close-coupled equations are solved via R-matrix propagation. Ground state thermal rate constants for forward and reverse reactions agree well with experiment. Multi-surface reaction probabilities, integral cross sections, and initial-state selected branching ratios all highlight the importance of vibrational energy in mediating nonadiabatic transition. Electronically excited state dynamics are seen to play a small but significant role as consistent with experimental conclusions.     

Quasi-classical trajectory study of the dynamics of the Cl + CH4→ HCl + CH3 reaction

We present an on-the-fly classical trajectory study of the Cl + CH(4)→ HCl + CH(3) reaction using a specific reaction parameter (SRP) AM1 Hamiltonian that was previously optimized for the Cl + ethane reaction [S. J. Greaves et al., J. Phys Chem A, 2008, 112, 9387]. The SRP-AM1 Hamiltonian is shown to be a good model for the potential energy surface of the title reaction. Calculated differential cross sections, obtained from trajectories propagated with the SRP-AM1 Hamiltonian compare favourably with experimental results for this system. Analysis of the vibrational modes of the methyl radical shows different scattering distributions for ground and vibrationally excited products.     

New ab initio potential energy surface and quantum dynamics of the reaction H(2S) + NH(X3Σ-) → N(4S) + H2

A new global potential energy surface is reported for the ground state ((4)A(")) of the reaction H((2)S) + NH(X(3)Σ(-)) → N((4)S) + H(2) from a set of accurate ab initio data, which were computed using the multi-reference configuration interaction with a basis set of aug-cc-pV5Z. The many-body expansion and neural network methods have been used to construct the new potential energy surface. The topographical features of the new global potential energy surface are presented. The predicted barrier height is lower than previous theoretical estimates and the heat of reaction with zero-point energy is closer to experimental results. The quantum reactive scattering dynamics calculation was carried out over a range of collision energies (0-1.0 eV) on the new potential energy surface. The reaction probabilities, integral cross-section, and rate constants for the title reaction were calculated. The calculated rate constants are in excellent agreement with the available experimental results.     

New ab initio potential energy surface for BrH2 and rate constants for the H + HBr → H2 + Br abstraction reaction

A global potential energy surface (PES) for the electronic ground state of the BrH(2) system was constructed based on the multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) method including the Davidson's correction using a large basis set. In addition, the spin-orbit correction were computed using the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian and the unperturbed MRCI wavefunctions in the Br + H(2) channel and the transition state region. Adding the correction to the ground state potential, the lowest spin-orbit correlated adiabatic potential was obtained. The characters of the new potential are discussed. Accurate initial state specified rate constants for the H + HBr → H(2) + Br abstraction reaction were calculated using a time-dependent wave packet method. The predicted rate constants were found to be in excellent agreement with the available experimental values and much better than those obtained from a previous PES.     

Quasi-classical trajectory study of the HO + CO → H + CO2 reaction on a new ab initio based potential energy surface

We report extensive quasi-classical trajectory calculations of the HO + CO → H + CO(2) reaction on a newly developed potential energy surface based on a large number of UCCSD(T)-F12/AVTZ calculations. This complex-forming reaction is known for its unusual kinetics and dynamics because of its unique potential energy surface, which is dominated by the HOCO wells flanked by an entrance channel bottleneck and a transition state leading to the H + CO(2) products. It was found that the thermal rate coefficients are in reasonably good agreement with known experimental data in both low and high pressure limits. Excitation of the OH vibration is shown to enhance reactivity, due apparently to its promoting effect over the transition state between the HOCO intermediate and the H + CO(2) product. On the other hand, neither CO vibrational excitation nor rotational excitation in either CO or OH has a significant effect on reactivity, in agreement with experiment. However, significant discrepancies have been found between theory and the available molecular beam experiments. For example, the calculated translational energy distribution of the products substantially underestimates the experiment. In addition, the forward bias in the differential cross section observed in the experiment was not reproduced theoretically. While the origin of the discrepancies is still not clear, it is argued that a quantum mechanical treatment of the dynamics might be needed.     

Quasi-classical trajectory study of the H + CO2 → HO + CO reaction on a new ab initio based potential energy surface

A detailed quasi-classical trajectory study of the H + CO(2) → HO + CO reaction is reported on an accurate potential energy surface based on ab initio data. The influence of the vibrational and rotational excitations of CO(2) was investigated up to the collision energy of 2.35 eV. It was found that the total reaction integral cross section increases monotonically with the collision energy, consistent with experimental results. The excitation of the CO(2) bending vibration enhances the reaction, while the excitation in its asymmetric stretching vibration inhibits the reaction. The calculated thermal rate constants are in excellent agreement with experiment. At the state-to-state level, the rotational state distributions of the HO product are in good agreement with experimental results, while those for the CO product are much hotter than measurements. The calculated differential cross sections are dominated by forward scattering, suggesting that the lifetime of the HOCO intermediate may not be sufficiently long to render the reaction completely statistical.     

Accurate quantum wave packet calculations for the F + HCl → Cl + HF reaction on the ground 1(2)A' potential energy surface

We present converged exact quantum wave packet calculations of reaction probabilities, integral cross sections, and thermal rate coefficients for the title reaction. Calculations have been carried out on the ground 1(2)A' global adiabatic potential energy surface of Deskevich et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 124, 224303 (2006)]. Converged wave packet reaction probabilities at selected values of the total angular momentum up to a partial wave of J = 140 with the HCl reagent initially selected in the v = 0, j = 0-16 rovibrational states have been obtained for the collision energy range from threshold up to 0.8 eV. The present calculations confirm an important enhancement of reactivity with rotational excitation of the HCl molecule. First, accurate integral cross sections and rate constants have been calculated and compared with the available experimental data.     

Quantum dynamics calculation of reaction probability for H + Cl2 → HCl + Cl

We present in this paper a time-dependent quantum wave packet calculation of the initial state selected reaction probability for H + Cl₂ based on the GHNS potential energy surface with total angular momentumJ = 0. The effects of the translational, vibrational and rotational excitation of Cl₂ on the reaction probability have been investigated. In a broad region of the translational energy, the rotational excitation enhances the reaction probability while the vibrational excitation depresses the reaction probability. The theoretical results agree well with the fact that it is an early down-hill reaction.     

Capture and dissociation in the complex-forming CH + H2 → CH2 + H, CH + H2 reactions

The rate coefficients for the capture process CH + H(2)→ CH(3) and the reactions CH + H(2)→ CH(2) + H (abstraction), CH + H(2) (exchange) have been calculated in the 200-800 K temperature range, using the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method and the most recent global potential energy surface. The reactions, which are of interest in combustion and in astrochemistry, proceed via the formation of long-lived CH(3) collision complexes, and the three H atoms become equivalent. QCT rate coefficients for capture are in quite good agreement with experiments. However, an important zero point energy (ZPE) leakage problem occurs in the QCT calculations for the abstraction, exchange and inelastic exit channels. To account for this issue, a pragmatic but accurate approach has been applied, leading to a good agreement with experimental abstraction rate coefficients. Exchange rate coefficients have also been calculated using this approach. Finally, calculations employing QCT capture/phase space theory (PST) models have been carried out, leading to similar values for the abstraction rate coefficients as the QCT and previous quantum mechanical capture/PST methods. This suggests that QCT capture/PST models are a good alternative to the QCT method for this and similar systems.     

An ab initio-based global potential energy surface for the SH3 system and full-dimensional state-to-state quantum dynamics study for the H2 + HS → H2S + H reaction

An accurate potential energy surface for the ground electronic state of SH₃ system has been constructed with 41,882 high level ab initio energy points and the neural network fitting method. The time-dependent wave packet method has been used to calculate the first state-to-state differential cross sections for the title reaction up to 1.2 eV in full dimensions, based on the reactant–product decoupling scheme. It is found that the majority of H₂S are produced in the ground vibrational state, with a large fraction of available energy for the reaction ending up as product translational motion. The differential cross sections at the threshold energy are dominated by a very narrow peak in the backward direction. With the increase of collision energy, the width of the angular distribution increases considerably, which is a typical feature of a direct reaction via abstract mechanism, similar to the H₂ + OH → H₂O + H reaction. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Potential energy surface and reaction mechanism for the ion-molecule reaction: CH4 + CH4+ → CH3 + CH5+

The potential energy surface for the CH₄+CH₄⁺ reaction system has been calculated with the ab initio method. A stable complex, responsible for the complex mechanism, has been found but is hard to reach. Each of the two direct mechanisms, hydrogen transfer and proton transfer, has been shown to consist of a combination of electron transfer and hydrogen atom transfer processes.     

Theoretical study of X + H2 → XH + H and reverse reactions (X = F,Cl, Br,I) using a new empirical potential energy surface

A method for constructing empirical potential surfaces is proposed which is based on the BSBL (bond-strength-bond-length) treatment originally developed to predict kinetic parameters for atom transfer reactions. Quasiclassical trajectory results for X + H₂ → HX + H (X = F, Cl, Br, I) and the reverse reactions were used to demonstrate the utility of the new PES for the study of the dynamics and kinetics of metathesis reactions.     

Direct ab initio dynamics study of radical C4H (X̃2Σ+) + CH4 reaction

The methane (CH(4)) hydrogen abstraction reaction by linear butadiynyl radical C(4)H (CCCCH) has been investigated by direct ab initio dynamics over a wide temperature range of 100-3000 K, theoretically. The potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been constructed at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//BB1K/6-311G(d,p) levels of theory. Two different hydrogen abstraction channels by C(1) and C(4) of C(4)H (C(1)C(2)C(3)C(4)H) have been considered. The results indicate that the C(1) position of C(4)H is a more reactive site. The electron transfer behaviors of two possible channels are also analyzed by quasi-restricted orbital (QRO) in detail. The rate constants calculated by canonical variational transition-state theory (CVT) with the small-curvature tunneling correction (SCT) are in excellent agreement with available experimental values. The normal and three-parameter expressions of Arrhenius rate constants are also provided within 100-3000 K. It is expected to be helpful for further studies on the reaction dynamics behaviors over a wide temperature range where no experimental data is available so far.     

Kinetic isotope effects for Cl + CH4 ⇌ HCl + CH3 calculated using ab initio semiclassical transition state theory

Calculations were carried out for 25 isotopologues of the title reaction for various combinations of (35)Cl, (37)Cl, (12)C, (13)C, (14)C, H, and D. The computed rate constants are based on harmonic vibrational frequencies calculated at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory and X(ij) vibrational anharmonicity coefficients calculated at the CCSD(T) /aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory. For some reactions, anharmonicity coefficients were also computed at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. The classical reaction barrier was taken from Eskola et al. [J. Phys. Chem. A 2008, 112, 7391-7401], who extrapolated CCSD(T) calculations to the complete basis set limit. Rate constants were calculated for temperatures from ～100 to ～2000 K. The computed ab initio rate constant for the normal isotopologue is in good agreement with experiments over the entire temperature range (～10% lower than the recommended experimental value at 298 K). The ab initio H/D kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) for CH(3)D, CH(2)D(2), CHD(3), and CD(4) are in very good agreement with literature experimental data. The ab initio (12)C/(13)C KIE is in error by ～2% at 298 K for calculations using X(ij) coefficients computed with the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set, but the error is reduced to ～1% when X(ij) coefficients computed with the larger aug-cc-pVTZ basis set are used. Systematic improvements appear to be possible. The present SCTST results are found to be more accurate than those from other theoretical calculations. Overall, this is a very promising method for computing ab initio kinetic isotope effects.     

New ab initio coupled potential energy surfaces for the Br(2P(3∕2), 2P(1∕2)) + H2 reaction

The three lowest (1A('), 2A('), and 1A(')) adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the Br((2)P) + H(2) reactive system have been computed based on the multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) method including the Davidson's correction with a large basis set. These three adiabatic PESs have been transformed to a diabatic representation, leading to four coupling potentials. In addition, the spin-orbit matrix elements were also obtained using the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian and the unperturbed MRCI wavefunctions in the Br + H(2) channel and the transition state region. Consequently, six coupling potentials were obtained and their characteristics were extensively discussed. Nonadiabatic quantum dynamics calculations for this system have been realized with these realistic diabatic potentials instead of previous semi-empirical diabatic potentials. Based on two-state model nonadiabatic calculations for the Br((2)P(3∕2), (2)P(1∕2)) + H(2) reaction, the Br((2)P(1∕2)) + H(2) reaction was found to show less reactivity than the Br((2)P(3∕2)) + H(2) reaction at collision energies beyond the threshold of the Br((2)P(3∕2)) + H(2) reaction. Our results are consistent with the previous studies on the XH(2) (X = F, Cl) system, which indicate that the adiabatically forbidden channel is dominant at low energies in the open-shell halogen atom plus H(2) reactions.     

An ab initio based full-dimensional global potential energy surface for FH(2)O(X(2)A(')) and dynamics for the F + H(2)O → HF + HO reaction

A global potential energy surface (PES) for the ground electronic state of FH(2)O is constructed based on more than 30 000 ab initio points at the multi-reference configuration interaction level. The PES features a pre-reaction van der Waals well and two post-reaction hydrogen-bonded complexes, as well as a "reactant-like" transition state with a classical barrier of 3.8 kcal∕mol. The adiabatic F + H(2)O → HF + OH reaction dynamics on this PES was investigated using a standard quasi-classical trajectory method. In agreement with experiment, the HF product contains significant vibrational excitation with limited rotational excitation, while the OH product is internally cold, reflecting its spectator role in the reaction. The products are primarily scattered in the backward direction, consistent with a direct abstraction mechanism.     

Quantum dynamics calculation of reaction probability for H + Cl2 → HCl + Cl

We present in this paper a time-dependent quantum wave packet calculation of the initial state selected reaction probability for H + Cl₂ based on the GHNS potential energy surface with total angular momentumJ = 0. The effects of the translational, vibrational and rotational excitation of Cl₂ on the reaction probability have been investigated. In a broad region of the translational energy, the rotational excitation enhances the reaction probability while the vibrational excitation depresses the reaction probability. The theoretical results agree well with the fact that it is an early down-hill reaction.     

An ab initio quasi-diabatic potential energy matrix for OH(2Σ) + H2

A diabatic potential energy matrix for three electronic states of OH(3) has been constructed by interpolation of multi-reference configuration interaction electronic structure data. The reactive, exchange and non-reactive quenching dynamics are investigated using surface hopping classical trajectories. Classical trajectory simulations show good agreement with cross molecular beam data for the OH((2)Σ) + D(2) → HOD + D reaction.