Proton transfer reactions and dynamics of sulfonic acid group in Nafion®

Proton transfer reactions and dynamics of the hydrophilic group (-SO(3)H) in Nafion? were studied at low hydration levels using the complexes formed from CF(3)SO(3)H, H(3)O(+) and nH(2)O, 1 ≤n≤ 3, as model systems. The equilibrium structures obtained from DFT calculations suggested at least two structural diffusion pathways at the -SO(3)H group namely, the "pass-through" and "pass-by" mechanisms. The former involves the protonation and deprotonation at the -SO(3)H group, whereas the latter the proton transfer in the adjacent Zundel complex. Analyses of the asymmetric O-H stretching frequencies (ν(OH)) of the hydrogen bond (H-bond) protons showed the threshold frequencies (ν(OH*)) of proton transfer in the range of 1700 to 2200 cm(-1). Born-Oppenheimer Molecular Dynamics (BOMD) simulations at 350 K anticipated slightly lower threshold frequencies (ν(A)(OH*,MD)), with two characteristic asymmetric O-H stretching frequencies being the spectral signatures of proton transfer in the H-bond complexes. The lower frequency (ν(A)(OH,MD))) is associated with the oscillatory shuttling motion and the higher frequency (ν(B)(OH,MD))) the structural diffusion motion. Comparison of the present results with BOMD simulations on protonated water clusters indicated that the -SO(3)H group facilitates proton transfer by reducing the vibrational energy for the interconversion between the two dynamic states (Δν), resulting in a higher population of the H-bonds with the structural diffusion motion. One could therefore conclude that the -SO(3)H groups in Nafion? act as active binding sites which provide appropriate structural, energetic and dynamic conditions for effective structural diffusion processes in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The present results suggested for the first time a possibility to discuss the tendency of proton transfer in H-bond using Δν(BA)(OH,MD)) and provided theoretical bases and guidelines for the investigations of proton transfer reactions in theory and experiment.     

Dynamics and mechanism of structural diffusion in linear hydrogen bond

Dynamics and mechanism of proton transfer in a protonated hydrogen bond (H-bond) chain were studied, using the CH(3)OH(2)(+)(CH(3)OH)(n) complexes, n = 1-4, as model systems. The present investigations used B3LYP/TZVP calculations and Born-Oppenheimer MD (BOMD) simulations at 350 K to obtain characteristic H-bond structures, energetic and IR spectra of the transferring protons in the gas phase and continuum liquid. The static and dynamic results were compared with the H(3)O(+)(H(2)O)(n) and CH(3)OH(2)(+)(H(2)O)(n) complexes, n = 1-4. It was found that the H-bond chains with n = 1 and 3 represent the most active intermediate states and the CH(3)OH(2)(+)(CH(3)OH)(n) complexes possess the lowest threshold frequency of proton transfer. The IR spectra obtained from BOMD simulations revealed that the thermal energy fluctuation and dynamics help promote proton transfer in the shared-proton structure with n = 3 by lowering the vibrational energy for the interconversion between the oscillatory shuttling and structural diffusion motions, leading to a higher population of the structural diffusion motion than in the shared-proton structure with n = 1. Additional explanation on the previously proposed mechanisms was introduced, with the emphases on the energetic of the transferring proton, the fluctuation of the number of the CH(3)OH molecules in the H-bond chain, and the quasi-dynamic equilibriums between the shared-proton structure (n = 3) and the close-contact structures (n ≥ 4). The latter prohibits proton transfer reaction in the H-bond chain from being concerted, since the rate of the structural diffusion depends upon the lifetime of the shared-proton intermediate state.     

Mechanisms of proton transfer in Nafion: elementary reactions at the sulfonic acid groups

Proton transfer reactions at the sulfonic acid groups in Nafion were theoretically studied, using complexes formed from triflic acid (CF3SO3H), H3O+ and H2O, as model systems. The investigations began with searching for potential precursors and transition states at low hydration levels, using the test-particle model (T-model), density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio calculations. They were employed as starting configurations in Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations at 298 K, from which elementary reactions were analyzed and categorized. For the H3O+-H2O complexes, BOMD simulations suggested that a quasi-dynamic equilibrium could be established between the Eigen and Zundel complexes, and that was considered to be one of the most important elementary reactions in the proton transfer process. The average lifetime of H3O+ obtained from BOMD simulations is close to the lowest limit, estimated from low-frequency vibrational spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that proton transfer reactions at -SO3H are not concerted, due to the thermal energy fluctuation and the existence of various quasi-dynamic equilibria, and -SO3H could directly and indirectly mediate proton transfer reactions through the formation of proton defects, as well as the -SO3- and -SO3H2+ transition states.     

Proton dissociation and transfer in hydrated phosphoric acid clusters

The dynamics and mechanisms of proton dissociation and transfer in hydrated phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) clusters under excess proton conditions were studied based on the concept of presolvation using the H₃PO₄–H₃O⁺–nH₂O complexes (n = 1–3) as the model systems and ab initio calculations and Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations at the RIMP2/TZVP level as model calculations. The static results showed that the smallest, most stable intermediate complex for proton dissociation (n = 1) is formed in a low local‐dielectric constant environment (e.g., ε = 1), whereas proton transfer from the first to the second hydration shell is driven by fluctuations in the number of water molecules in a high local‐dielectric constant environment (e.g., ε = 78) through the Zundel complex in a linear H‐bond chain (n = 3). The two‐dimensional potential energy surfaces (2D‐PES) of the intermediate complex (n = 1) suggested three characteristic vibrational and ¹H NMR frequencies associated with a proton moving on the oscillatory shuttling and structural diffusion paths, which can be used to monitor the dynamics of proton dissociation in the H‐bond clusters. The BOMD simulations over the temperature range of 298–430 K validated the proposed proton dissociation and transfer mechanisms by showing that good agreement between the theoretical and experimental data can be achieved with the proposed rate‐determining processes. The theoretical results suggest the roles played by the polar solvent and iterate that insights into the dynamics and mechanisms of proton transfer in the protonated H‐bond clusters can be obtained from intermediate complexes provided that an appropriate presolvation model is selected and that all of the important rate‐determining processes are included in the model calculations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The vibrational predissociation spectra of the H5O2 +RGn(RG = Ar,Ne) clusters: correlation of the solvent perturbations in the free OH and shared proton transitions of the Zundel ion

Predissociation spectra of the H(5)O(2) (+)RG(n)(RG = Ar,Ne) cluster ions are reported in energy regions corresponding to both the OH stretching (3350-3850 cm(-1)) and shared proton (850-1950 cm(-1)) vibrations. The two free OH stretching bands displayed by the Ne complex are quite close to the band origins identified earlier in bare H(5)O(2) (+) [L. I. Yeh, M. Okumura, J. D. Myers, J. M. Price, and Y. T. Lee, J. Chem. Phys. 91, 7319 (1989)], indicating that the symmetrical H(5)O(2) (+) "Zundel" ion remains largely intact in H(5)O(2) (+)Ne. The low-energy spectrum of the Ne complex is simpler than that observed previously for H(5)O(2) (+)Ar, and is dominated by two sharp transitions at 928 and 1047 cm(-1), with a weaker feature at 1763 cm(-1). The H(5)O(2) (+)Ar(n),n = 1-5 spectra generally exhibit complex band structures reflecting solvent-induced symmetry breaking of the Zundel core ion. The extent of solvent perturbation is evaluated with electronic structure calculations, which predict that the rare gas atoms should attach to the spectator OH groups of H(5)O(2) (+) rather than to the shared proton. In the asymmetric complexes, the shared proton resides closer to the more heavily solvated water molecule, leading to redshifts in the rare gas atom-solvated OH stretches and to blueshifts in the shared proton vibrations. The experimental spectra are compared with recent full-dimensional vibrational calculations (diffusion Monte Carlo and multimode/vibrational configuration interaction) on H(5)O(2) (+). These results are consistent with assignment of the strong low-energy bands in the H(5)O(2) (+)Ne spectrum to the vibration of the shared proton mostly along the O-O axis, with the 1763 cm(-1) band traced primarily to the out-of-phase, intramolecular bending vibrations of the two water molecules.     

Isomer- and species-selective infrared spectroscopy of jet-cooled 7H- and 9H-2-aminopurine and 2-aminopurine·H2O clusters

The infrared (IR) spectra of the supersonic-jet cooled 9H- and 7H-tautomers of 2-aminopurine (2AP) and of the 9H-2-aminopurine·H(2)O monohydrate clusters have been measured by mass- and species-selective IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy in the 3200-3900 cm(-1) region, covering the N-H and O-H stretching vibrations. The spectra are complemented by density functional (B3LYP and PW91) and by second-order M?ller-Plesset (MP2) calculations of the electronic energies and vibrational frequenciesof the respective 2AP tautomers and clusters. The 9H- and 7H-2-aminopurine tautomers were definitively identified by the shifts of their NH and NH(2) symmetric and asymmetric stretching frequencies and by comparison to the B3LYP/TZVP calculated IR spectra. The H-bond topologies of the two previously observed 9H-2-aminopurine·H(2)O isomers (Sinha. R. K.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A2011, 115, 6208) are definitively identified as the "sugar-edge" isomer A and the "trans-amino-bound" isomer B by comparing their IR spectra to the calculated frequencies and IR intensities of the cluster isomers A, B, C, and D, as well as to the IR spectrum of 9H-2AP. The sugar-edge isomer A involves N9-H···OH(2) and HOH···N3 hydrogen bonds and is predicted to be the most stable form. The amino-bound isomer B involves NH(2)···OH(2) and HOH···N1 hydrogen bonds and is calculated to lie 2.5 kJ/mol above isomer A. The H-bond topology of the "cis-amino-bound" isomer C is symmetrically related to isomer B, with a hydrogen bond to the N3 of the pyrimidine group. However, it is calculated to lie 7 kJ/mol above isomer A and indeed is not observed in the supersonic jet. Isomer D involves a single H-bond to the N7 position, is predicted to be 14 kJ/mol above A and is therefore not observed.     

用密度泛函方法研究质子化苯基丙酮-水团簇

The structure and growth trend of the protonated acetophenone-water clusters have been investigated using the DFT-B3LYP method combined with the standard 6-31+G(d,p) basis set. In order to obtain more accurate single-point energy the B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,2p) method was adapted. The results show that the formation of H+C8H8O-H2O is a barrierless reaction process and the equilibrium distance between the proton and the O atom in C8H8O molecule is 1.015 A. For H+C8H8O-(H2O)n(n=1,2,3) clusters, the proton lies between the acetophenone molecule C8H8O and the water molecule H2O. The distance between the proton and the O atom of the C8H8O molecule increased from n=1 to n=3; C8H8O-H+-H2O can be regarded as an solvation shell. For H+C8H8O (H2O)n (n=4,5,6,7,8) clusters, the proton lies between the two H2O molecules forming a H5O2+ structure, C8H8O-H5O2+ is an important structure, which the other H2O molecules will attack from different sides.     

Correlation effects on the structure and dynamics of the H3O+ hydrate: B3LYP/MM and MP2/MM MD simulations

Two combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, namely B3LYP/MM and MP2/MM, have been performed to investigate the possible influence of electron correlation on the structure and dynamics of the H(3)O(+) hydrate. In comparison to the previously published HF/MM results, both B3LYP/MM and MP2/MM simulations clearly reveal stronger H(3)O(+)-water hydrogen bond interactions, which are reflected in a slightly greater compactness of the H(3)O(+) hydrate. However, the B3LYP/MM simulation, although providing structural details very close to the MP2/MM data, shows an artificially slow dynamic nature of some first shell water molecules as a consequence of the formation of a long-lived H(3)O(+)···H(2)O hydrogen bonding structure.     

Crown ether complexes with H₃O⁺ and NH₄⁺: proton localization and proton bridge formation

The complexes formed by crown ethers with hydronium and ammonium cations are of key relevance for the understanding of their supramolecular behavior in protic solvents. In this work, the complexes of the 15-crown-5 (15c5) and 18-crown-6 (18c6) ethers with H?O? and NH?? and their deuterated variants are investigated under isolated conditions. The study employs infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) vibrational spectroscopy and DFT B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) calculations for conformational assignment. The 18c6 ether provides two energetically nearby C(3v) conformations with commensurate linear O-H···O and N-H···O bonds. The 15c5 ether ring adopts partially folded asymmetric pyramidal geometries, yielding one shorter linear H bond and two longer non-linear H bonds. Remarkably, an appreciable broadening of the IRMPD vibrational bands is observed for the 15c5-H?O?/D?O? complexes. This can be interpreted as a signature for partial sharing of the proton (or deuteron) between the water and the crown ether along the linear O-H···O intermolecular H bond, which is indeed particularly short for this complex.     

Charge penetration and the origin of large O-H vibrational red-shifts in hydrated-electron clusters, (H2O)n-

The origin of O-H vibrational red-shifts observed experimentally in (H2O)n(-) clusters is analyzed using electronic structure calculations, including natural bond orbital analysis. The red-shifts are shown to arise from significant charge transfer and strong donor-acceptor stabilization between the unpaired electron and O-H sigma* orbitals on a nearby water molecule in a double hydrogen-bond-acceptor ("AA") configuration. The extent of e(-) --> sigma* charge transfer is comparable to the n --> sigma* charge transfer in the most strongly hydrogen-bonded X(-)(H2O) complexes (e.g., X = F, O, OH), even though the latter systems exhibit much larger vibrational red-shifts. In X(-)(H2O), the proton affinity of X(-) induces a low-energy XH...(-)OH diabatic state that becomes accessible in v = 1 of the shared-proton stretch, leading to substantial anharmonicity in this mode. In contrast, the H + (-)OH(H2O)(n-1) diabat of (H2O)n(-) is not energetically accessible; thus, the O-H stretching modes of the AA water are reasonably harmonic, and their red-shifts are less dramatic. Only a small amount of charge penetrates beyond the AA water molecule, even upon vibrational excitation of these AA modes. Implications for modeling of the aqueous electron are discussed.     

Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy of H(+)(H2O)6·M(m) (M = Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, H2, N2, and CH4): messenger-dependent balance between H3O(+) and H5O2(+) core isomers

Although messenger mediated spectroscopy is a widely-used technique to study gas phase ionic species, effects of messengers themselves are not necessarily clear. In this study, we report infrared photodissociation spectroscopy of H(+)(H(2)O)(6)·M(m) (M = Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, H(2), N(2), and CH(4)) in the OH stretch region to investigate messenger(M)-dependent cluster structures of the H(+)(H(2)O)(6) moiety. The H(+)(H(2)O)(6), the protonated water hexamer, is the smallest system in which both the H(3)O(+) (Eigen) and H(5)O(2)(+) (Zundel) hydrated proton motifs coexist. All the spectra show narrower band widths reflecting reduced internal energy (lower vibrational temperature) in comparison with bare H(+)(H(2)O)(6). The Xe-, CH(4)-, and N(2)-mediated spectra show additional band features due to the relatively strong perturbation of the messenger. The observed band patterns in the Ar-, Kr-, Xe-, N(2)-, and CH(4)-mediated spectra are attributed mainly to the "Zundel" type isomer, which is more stable. On the other hand, the Ne- and H(2)-mediated spectra are accounted for by a mixture of the "Eigen" and "Zundel" types, like that of bare H(+)(H(2)O)(6). These results suggest that a messenger sometimes imposes unexpected isomer-selectivity even though it has been thought to be inert. Plausible origins of the isomer-selectivity are also discussed.     

Complexes of molecular and ionic character in the same matrix layer: infrared studies of the sulfuric acid/ammonia system

The atmospherically important interaction products of sulfuric acid and ammonia molecules have been firstly observed by matrix isolation Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (MIS-FTIR). Infrared spectra of solid argon matrix layers, in which both H(2)SO(4) and NH(3) molecules were entrapped as impurities, were analyzed for bands not seen in matrix layers containing either of the parent molecules alone. Results were interpreted on the basis of spectral changes, experimental conditions, and semiempirically scaled frequencies from the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ and B3LYP/aug-cc-pVQZ calculations. Bands were assigned to complexes of the H(2)SO(4)·NH(3) and H(2)SO(4)·[NH(3)](2) general formulas. They differ significantly: the 1:1 H(2)SO(4)·NH(3) complex is a strongly hydrogen bonded complex, an analogue of the H(2)SO(4)·H(2)O complex, studied previously. For the 1:2 H(2)SO(4)·[NH(3)](2) complex, spectral results indicate an almost complete proton transfer forming a complex of essentially the two ionic moieties HSO(4)(-) and [H(3)N···H···NH(3)](+), an analogue of the [H(2)O···H···OH(2)](+) "Zundel ion".     

Dynamics of proton exchange in a model phosphonic acid‐functionalized polymer

The dynamics and mechanism of proton exchange in phosphonic acid‐functionalized polymers were studied using poly(vinyl‐phosphonic acid) (PVPA) as a model system along with quantum chemical calculations and Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations at the B3LYP/TZVP level as model calculations. This theoretical study began with searching for the smallest, most active polymer segments and their intermediate conformations which could be involved in the local proton‐exchange process. The B3LYP/TZVP results confirmed that a low local dielectric environment and excess proton conditions are required to generate the intermediate conformations, and the shapes of the potential energy curves of the proton exchange between the two phosphonic acid functional groups are sensitive to the local conformational changes. In contrast, a high local dielectric environment increases the energy barriers, thereby preventing the proton from returning to the original functional group. Based on the static results, a mechanism for the proton exchange between the two functional groups involving fluctuations in the local dielectric environment and a local conformational change was proposed. The BOMD results confirmed the proposed mechanism by showing that the activation energies for the proton exchange in the hydrogen bond between two immobilized phosphonic acid moieties, obtained from the exponential relaxation behaviors of the envelopes of the velocity autocorrelation functions and the ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) line‐shape analyses, are too low to be the rate‐determining process. Instead, coupled librational motion in the backbone which leads to the interconversion between the two intermediate conformations possesses higher activation energy, and therefore represents one of the most important rate‐determining processes. These findings suggested that the rate of the proton exchange in the model phosphonic acid‐functionalized polymer is determined by the polymer mobility which, in this case, is the large‐amplitude librational motion of the vinyl backbone. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cation-anion hydrogen bonds: a new class of hydrogen bonds that extends their strength beyond the covalent limit. A theoretical characterization

The existence of O-H···O hydrogen bonds having a strength within the -80 to -210 kcal/mol range, that is, in the range of strength of covalent bonds and well beyond the so-called covalent limit (-50 kcal/mol), is reported on complexes where the O-H proton donor and O acceptor groups are located in ions of opposite sign. A complete analysis of short distance O-H···O hydrogen bonds between charged fragments was performed for cases where the OH and O groups are both located on charged molecules. It shows that these interactions (a) are nonsymmetrical for the O-H and H···O distances, (b) have a noncovalent H···O bond critical point, and (c) have a strong and energetically stable electrostatic component when the OH and O groups are located in oppositely charged molecules. These cation-anion O-H···O interactions are energetically stable, satisfy the usual topology for hydrogen bonds, HBs, and also have the same directionality found in other HBs. Therefore, they should be considered as a new class of HBs, the cation-anion hydrogen bonds.     

The dynamic behavior of a liquid ethanol-water mixture: a perspective from quantum chemical topology

Quantum Chemical Topology (QCT) is used to reveal the dynamics of atom-atom interactions in a liquid. A molecular dynamics simulation was carried out on an ethanol-water liquid mixture at its azeotropic concentration (X(ethanol)=0.899), using high-rank multipolar electrostatics. A thousand (ethanol)(9)-water heterodecamers, respecting the water-ethanol ratio of the azeotropic mixture, were extracted from the simulation. Ab initio electron densities were computed at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d) level for these molecular clusters. A video shows the dynamical behavior of a pattern of bond critical points and atomic interaction lines, fluctuating over 1 ns. A bond critical point distribution revealed the fluctuating behavior of water and ethanol molecules in terms of O-H···O, C-H···O and H···H interactions. Interestingly, the water molecule formed one to six C-H···O and one to four O-H···O interactions as a proton acceptor. We found that the more localized a dynamical bond critical point distribution, the higher the average electron density at its bond critical points. The formation of multiple C-H···O interactions affected the shape of the oxygen basin of the water molecule, which is shown in three dimensions. The hydrogen atoms of water strongly preferred to form H···H interactions with ethanol's alkyl hydrogen atoms over its hydroxyl hydrogen.     

Evidence for the formation of a mo-h intermediate in the catalytic cycle of formate dehydrogenase

DFT/BP86/TZVP and DFT/B3LYP/TZVP have been used to investigate systematically the reaction pathways associated with the H-transfer step, which is the rate-determining step of the reaction HCOO(-) ? CO(2) + H(+) + 2e(-), as catalyzed by metalloenzyme formate dehydrogenase (FDH). Actually, the energetics associated with the transfer from formate to all H (proton or hydride) acceptors that are present within the FDH active site have been sampled. This study points to a viable intimate mechanism in which the metal center mediates H transfer from formate to the final acceptor, i.e. a selenocysteine residue. The Mo-based reaction pathway, consisting of a β-H elimination to metal with concerted decarboxylation, turned out to be favored over previously proposed routes in which proton transfer occurs directly from HCOO(-) to selenocysteine. The proposed reaction pathway is reminiscent of the key step of metal-based catalysis of the water-gas shift reaction.     

Unusual electron charge density in carboxylic acid. 17O quadrupole coupling in cis-cyclobutane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid

The (17)O NQR frequencies have been measured in cis-cyclobutane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid and the quadrupole coupling tensors have been determined at various temperatures. Two O···H oxygen positions and two O-H oxygen positions are observed, showing the presence of two different types of O-H···O hydrogen bonds in the unit cell. The quadrupole coupling constants at the O-H oxygen positions are approximately 30% lower than the lowest quadrupole coupling constants experimentally observed at the C-O-H positions in other carboxylic acids with either ordered or disordered hydrogen bonds. The O-H distances have been calculated from the (17)O-(1)H dipole-dipole interaction at the O-H oxygen positions. The obtained values are longer than the O-H distances usually found in O-H···O hydrogen bonds with comparable O···O distance, in agreement with the proposed proton exchange O-H···O ? O···H-O, which partially averages the dipole-dipole interaction. The energy difference of the two proton configurations, O-H···O and O···H-O, is calculated from the O-H distances determined by NQR. The temperature dependence of the (17)O quadrupole coupling tensors at the (17)O···H-O oxygen positions is analyzed in the model of proton exchange and the energy differences of the two proton configurations obtained by this analysis agree with the values obtained from the O-H distances. The quadrupole coupling tensors are analyzed in a model based on the Townes and Dailey model. The model shows that the population of an oxygen lone pair orbital is at this oxygen position reduced from 2 to approximately 1.3. The electron electric charge is most probably transferred to the oxygen σ and π electron orbitals. This may be associated with the structure of the cyclobutane ring, where the X-ray data show the presence of two unusually short C-C bonds.     

On the weak O-H···halogen hydrogen bond: a rotational study of CH3CHClF···H2O

We measured the molecular beam Fourier transform microwave spectra of six isotopologues of the 1?:?1 adduct of CH(3)CHClF with water. Water prefers to form an O-H···F rather than an O-H···Cl hydrogen bond. This is just the contrary of what was observed in the chlorofluoromethane-water adduct, where an O-H···Cl link was formed (W. Caminati, S. Melandri, A. Maris and P. Ottaviani, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2006, 45, 2438). The water molecule is linked with an O-H···F bridge to the fluorine atom, with r(F···H(w)) = 2.14 ?, and with two C-H···O contacts to the alkyl hydrogens with r(C(1)-H(1)···O(w)) = 2.75 ? and r(C(2)-H(2)···O(w)) = 2.84 ?, respectively. Besides the rotational constants, the quadrupole coupling constants of the chlorine atom have been determined. In addition, information on the internal dynamics has been obtained.     

Communication: A concerted mechanism between proton transfer of Zundel anion and displacement of counter cation

Ab initio path integral molecular dynamics simulation of M(+)(H(3)O(2)(-)) (M = Li, Na, and K) has been carried out to analyze how the structure and dynamics of a low-barrier hydrogen-bonded Zundel anion, H(3)O(2)(-), can be affected by the counter alkali metal cation, M(+). Our simulation predicts that the quantum proton transfer in Zundel anion can be strongly coupled to the motion of counter cation located nearby. A smaller cation can induce larger structural distortion of the Zundel anion fragment making the proton transfer barrier higher, and hence, lower the vibrational excitation energy. It is also argued that a large H∕D isotope effect is present.     

Insight into selected reactions in low-temperature dimethyl ether combustion from Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics

Dimethyl ether is under consideration as an alternative diesel fuel. Its combustion chemistry is as yet ill-characterized. Here we use Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) based on DFT-B3LYP forces to investigate the short-time dynamics of selected features of the low-temperature dimethyl ether (DME) oxidation potential energy surface. Along the chain propagation pathway, we run BOMD simulations from the transition state involving the decomposition of (*)CH(2)OCH(2)OOH to two CH(2)=O and an (*)OH radical. We predict that formaldehyde C-O stretch overtones are excited, consistent with laser photolysis experiments. We also predict that O-H overtones are excited for the (*)OH formed from (*)CH(2)OCH(2)OOH dissociation. We also investigate short-time dynamics involved in chain branching. First, we examine the isomerization transition state of (*)OOCH(2)OCH(2)OOH --> HOOCH(2)OCHOOH. The latter species is predicted to be a short-lived metastable radical that decomposes within 500 fs to hydroperoxymethyl formate (HPMF; HOOCH(2)OC(=O)H) and the first (*)OH of chain branching. The dissociation of HOOCH(2)OCHOOH exhibits non-RRKM behavior in its lifetime profile, which may be due to conformational constraints or slow intramolecular vibrational energy transfer (IVR) from the nascent H-O bond to the opposite end of the radical, where O-O scission occurs to form HPMF and (*)OH. In a few trajectories, we see HOOCH(2)OCHOOH recross back to (*)OOCH(2)OCH(2)OOH because the isomerization is endothermic, with only an 8 kcal/mol barrier to recrossing. Therefore, some inhibition of chain-branching may be due to recrossing. Second, trajectories run from the transition state leading to the direct decomposition of HPMF (an important source of the second (*)OH radical in chain branching) to HCO, (*)OH, and HC(=O)OH show that these products can recombine to form many other possible products. These products include CH(2)OO + HC(=O)OH, H(2)O + CO + HC(=O)OH, HC(=O)OH + HC(=O)OH, and HC(=O)C(=O)H + H(2)O, which (save CH(2)OO + HC(=O)OH) are all more thermodynamically stable than the original HCO + (*)OH + HC(=O)OH products. Moreover, the multitude of extra products suggest that standard statistical rate theories cannot completely describe the reaction kinetics of significantly oxygenated compounds such as HPMF. These secondary products consume the second (*)OH required for explosive combustion, suggesting an inhibition of DME fuel combustion is likely.