Effect of anisotropic diffusion and external electric field on the rate of diffusion-controlled reactions

In this paper we investigate theoretically the effect of an external electric field on the rate constant of steady-state bulk diffusion-controlled reactions. We generalize previously derived results for isotropic diffusion in the absence of interparticle interaction [J. Chem. Phys. 87, 4622 (1987)] to the case where translational diffusion is anisotropic. A frequently occurring situation of transverse isotropy where D(x)=D(y) not equal to D(z) is considered in detail. We derive the first-order expansion for the reaction rate constant in terms of the electric field strength E, k(E)=k(0) (1+1/2epsilongamma), where gamma=k(0)/4piRD( perpendicular ), epsilon=qER/k(B)T, q is the charge, R is the contact distance, and D( perpendicular ) is the transverse diffusion coefficient. Numerical calculations show that this first-order expansion works well in the whole range of applicability of the Nernst-Einstein relation, i.e., for epsilon<1.     

Extended batch calorimetry on periodic chemical reactions

Three small setups for a batch microcalorimeter are described which allow for simultaneous determinations of the rate of heat production and of light absorbance, electrode potential or gas production. The setups are tested with fast chemical reactions and the time constants of the calorimetric signal have been determined thereby. Finally, examples are presented showing the usefulness of the device for investigations of periodic chemical reactions.     

Quantum aspects of self-organized periodic chemical reactions

It is a remarkable empirical fact, known for a long time, that in certain self-organized periodic chemical reactions, such as Liesegang's or Belousov-Zhabotinsky's reactions, the product of molecular weight of precipitate, precipitation length period, and speed of precipitation is of the order of universal Planck's quantum of action h. Based on the fact that the classical and quantum diffusions are processes, which are indistinguishable in the configuration space, a quantum criterion in terms of diffusion constants has been established. This criterion enables one to find out conditions under which the quantum behavior of self-organized periodic reactions can be observed.     

Polymers in an external periodic field: the effect of the excluded volume interactions

By developing and making use of the "transfer operator" formalism, we calculate the number density and average Flory end-to-end distance of the polymers placed in an external periodic field. The considered mathematical problem is of immediate relevance for such realistic physical systems as the homopolymers immersed in the host structure of alternating layers that have different affinities for homopolymers (e.g., lamellar microphases of copolymers, ripple morphology of the mixed brush, and lipidwater systems). In contrast to the conventional ground state dominance approximation, the developed method makes it possible to calculate the characteristic size (Flory radius R(F)) of the polymers in the direction of applied external periodic field, with the effect of the excluded volume taken into account. The excluded volume interactions are shown to qualitatively change the behavior of R(F) as a function of the reduced field strength theta relative to the case of ideal Gaussian polymers. In particular, in the limit of strong fields theta>1 the average Flory radius R(F) is found to saturate to its minimal value, which is calculated as a function of the excluded volume parameter u. This finding is in distinct contrast to the result for the Flory radius R(F) in the case of ideal polymers where R(F) approaches zero as the interaction parameter theta increases.     

Effects of magnetic field on chemical reactions

The effect of the magnetic field on CIDNP can be found in many chemical reactions. It is considered to result from the fact that the probability of singlet-triplet transitions in a radical pair is determined by magnetic interactions in the pair and is field strength dependent. In the present communication we wish to demonstrate that for the same reason the external magnetic field can also markedly affect the rates of chemical reactions involving free radicals.     

Intrinsic field theory of chemical reactions

An intrinsic principle of least action is presented for the intrinsic dynamism of chemical reactions. Then, as the stationary trajectory, a meta-IRC (intrinsic reaction coordinate) draws a geodesic curve in a rigged Riemannian space. This establishes a geodesic law for the intrinsic dynamism. Moreover, a diagrammatic perturbation theory is formulated for the intrinsic dynamism, and a dynamical interaction between a chemically reacting system and a background system is investigated. Then, the structural stability of the system is discussed using a new concept of the dynamical potential field. An example is given in order to elucidate the present theory.Dedicated to Prof. Hermann Hartmann on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

The effect of a magnetic field on the rate of chemical reactions and the applicability of the projection rule

Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry -     

Evaluation of the rate constants in chemical reactions

This article is concerned with the application of a new method to recover the rate constants in chemical reactions. The method is based on treating the unknown parameters as time dependent. With appropriate experimental data the unknown rate constants are guided from an arbitrary initial condition to their true value at a final time. An explicit equation describing the time evolution of the parameters is obtained by minimizing the error along the trajectory. The method leads to an iterative algorithm which is described in detail. Numerical results with the method indicate that accurate estimates of the rate constants can be obtained directly from experimental data. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 30: 151–159, 1998.     

On the rate of relativistic surface chemical reactions

On the basis of special relativity and the classical theory of chemical reaction rates it is shown how the surface chemical reaction rates vary as v --> c, where v is the velocity of the object under study and c is the velocity of light.     

The influence of an electric and magnetic field in chemical reactions

We have shown that a simultaneous application of uniform and constant electric and magnetic fields cannot affect the equality of the equilibrium enantiomeric populations in a racemic reaction mixture. Hence, whatever the sources of the rotations reported, they cannot have had their origin in uniform applied fields if the reactions have gone to completion.     

Novel rate equations describing isochronous chemical reactions

A simple mathematical model involving two first-order Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) with fourth-degree polynomial nonlinearities is introduced. The initial-value problem for this system of two ODEs is solved in terms of elementary functions: for an open set of initial data, this solution is isochronous, i.e., completely periodic with a fixed period (independent of the initial data); in the complementary set of initial data, it blows up at a finite time. This system is likely to be of applicative interest: for instance it models the time evolution of two chemical substances in a spatially homogeneous situation, provided this evolution is characterized by six appropriate chemical reactions whose rates are simply expressed in terms of three a priori arbitrary parameters, or alternatively by five appropriate reactions whose rates are simply expressed in terms of two a priori arbitrary parameters.     

Effect of the structures of microemulsions on chemical reactions

Two kinds of chemical reactions were studied in two different microemulsion systems: cetyltrimethylammonium bromide/1-butanol/10 and 25% n-octane/water and sodium dodecyl sulfonate/1-butanol/20% styrene/water. One reaction is a hydrolysis reaction, in which aspirin and 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene were used as the hydrolysis substrates. The second reaction is the polymerization of styrene, which was initiated by using two initiators, water-soluble K₂S₂O₈ and oil-soluble 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile), and, at the same time, the polymerization of acrylamide, which was initiated by NaHSO₃, was also studied. All the hydrolysis reaction experimental results show that the hydrolysis is greatly affected by the structures and the structural transitions of microemulsions. The hydrolysis rates are higher in water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion media and decrease with the addition of water. The rates increase in bicontinuous (BC) microemulsions and decrease in oil-in-water (O/W) microemulsions. The transition points of the hydrolysis rates occurred at the two microemulsion structural transition points from W/O to BC and from BC to O/W. The polymerization relationships between the conversions of styrene, the molecular weights of polystyrene and the water contents of the microemulsion system were obtained. The effects of microemulsion structures on the sizes of the polystyrene particles and on the molecular weights of the polymers are discussed. Polystyrene particles with diameters of 10–60 nm were observed by microscopy. Our experimental polymerization results show that microemulsions are suitable as media for the production of polymers, the molecular weights and the particle sizes of which can be controlled and predicted by variations in microemulsion structures. Received: 11 July 1999/Accepted: 26 July 1999     

Effect of an external magnetic field on photolysis of aqueous solutions of cyclohexanone

The effect of an external magnetic field on the ratio of the yields of the basic products of photolysis of aqueous solutions of cyclohexanone was investigated by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. It was shown that the magnetic field does not significantly affect the yield of the products of the reaction with a 0.2 M concentration of the starting ketone, the yield of 5-hexenal decreases, and the yield of caproic acid and the rate of photolysis increase below 0.02 M. The observed effects are explained by association of cyclohexan-one with involvement of the HFI mechanism from the theory of radical pairs.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1196–1197, May, 1991.     

Effect of the overall rotation on the cis-trans isomerization of HONO induced by an external field

Rovibrational eigenenergies of HONO are computed and compared to experimental energies available in the literature. For their computation, we use a previously developed potential energy surface (PES) and a newly derived exact kinetic energy operator (KEO) including the overall rotation for a tetra-atomic molecule in non-orthogonal coordinates. In addition, we use the Heidelberg Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree (MCTDH) package. We compare the experimental rovibrational eigenvalues of HONO available in the literature with those obtained with MCTDH and a previously developed potential energy surface (PES) [F. Richter et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2004, 120, 1306.] for the cis geometry. The effect of the overall rotation on the process studied in our previous work on HONO [F. Richter et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2007, 127, 164315.] leading to the cis→trans isomerization of HONO is investigated. This effect on this process is found to be weak.     

Formation of CdS thin films in a chemical bath environment under the action of an external magnetic field

External magnetic fields were applied during thin film preparation of CdS on glass substrates by the chemical bath deposition technique (CBD). Some physical properties of the polycrystalline films, like layer thickness, grain size and optical quality depend in a characteristic manner on the strength and orientation of the external field during the growth process. The characterization of the samples includes atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical absorption, and dark conductivity measurements. The data interpretation follows a line based on the specific interaction of cadmium and sulfur ions with acting magnetic fields within the chemical bath This article was submitted by the authors in English.     

Variational principles for describing chemical reactions. Reactivity indices based on the external potential.

In a recent paper [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 2010], the authors explored variational principles that help one understand chemical reactivity on the basis of the changes in electron density associated with a chemical reaction. Here, similar methods are used to explore the effect changing the external potential has on chemical reactivity. Four new indices are defined: (1) a potential energy surface that results from the second-order truncation of the Taylor series in the external potential about some reference, Upsilon(R(1),R(2),.,R(M)()); (2) the stabilization energy for the equilibrium nuclear geometry (relative to some reference), Xi; (3) the flexibility, or "lability", of the molecule at equilibrium, Lambda; and (4) the proton hardness, Pi, which performs a role in the theory of Br?nsted-Lowry acids and bases that is similar to the role of the chemical hardness in the theory of Lewis acids and bases. Applications considered include the orientation of a molecule in an external electric field, molecular association reactions, and reactions between Br?nsted-Lowry acids and bases.