On the role of scattering resonances in the F+HD reaction dynamics

We study scattering resonances in the F+HD-->HF+D reaction using a new method for direct evaluation of the lifetime Q-matrix [Aquilanti et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2005, 123, 054314]. We show that most of the resonances are due to van der Waals states in the entrance and exit reaction channels. The metastable states observed in the product reaction channel are assigned by calculating the energy levels and wave functions of the HF...D van der Waals complex. The behavior of resonance energies, widths, and decay branching ratios as functions of total angular momentum is analyzed. The effect of isotopic substitution on resonance energies and lifetimes is elucidated by comparison with previous results for the F+H2 reaction. It is demonstrated that HF(v'=3) products near threshold are formed by decay of the narrow resonances supported by van der Waals wells in the exit channel. State-to-state differential cross sections in the HF(v'=3) channel exhibit characteristic forward-backward peaks due to the formation of a long-lived metastable complex. The role of the exit-channel resonances in the interpretation of molecular beam experiments is discussed.     

Quantum dynamics of H + LiH reaction and its isotopic variants

Time-dependent quantum wave packet dynamics study is carried out to investigate the initial state selected channel specific reactivity of H + LiH collisional system on a new and more accurate ab initio potential energy surface developed by Wernli et al. [J. Phys. Chem. A 113, 1121 (2009)]. The H + LiH reaction proceeds through LiH depletion and H-exchange paths. While the former path is highly exoergic (by ～2.258 eV), the latter path is thermoneutral. State selected and energy resolved integral reaction cross sections and thermal rate constants are reported and compared with the literature data. The reactivity of the LiH depletion channel is found to be greater than the H-exchange channel. Rotational excitation of the reagent LiH molecule causes a decrease of reactivity of both the channels. On the other hand, the vibrational excitation of the reagent LiH decreases the reactivity of the LiH depletion channel and increases the reactivity of the H-exchange channel. The effect of isotopic substitution (H by D) on the reaction dynamics is also examined.     

Quantum scattering calculation for reaction Br + H2 on two potential energy surfaces

Three‐dimensional time‐dependent quantum wave packet calculations have been carried out for Br + H₂ on a new global ab initio and a semi‐empirical extended London–Eyring–Polanyi–Sato potential energy surface. It is shown that on the ab initio surface, the threshold energy is much lower, and the reaction probabilities, cross sections, and rate constants are much larger. The effects of the initial rovibrational excitation have also been studied. Comparison of rate constants with experimental measurement implies that the ab initio surface is more suitable for quantum dynamic calculation. The possible reasons and mechanism for the dynamical difference on the two PES are analyzed and discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

A quantum reaction dynamics study of the translational, vibrational, and rotational motion effects on the HD + H3+ reaction

Time-dependent, quantum reaction dynamics wavepacket approach is employed to investigate the impacts of the translational, vibrational, and rotational motion on the HD+H(3)(+) → H(2)D(+) + H(2) reaction using the Xie-Braams-Bowman potential energy surface [Z. Xie, B. J. Braams, and J. M. Bowman, J. Chem. Phys. 122, 224307 (2005)]. We treat this five atom reaction with a seven-degree-of-freedom model by fixing one Jacobi and one torsion angle related to H(3) (+) at the lowest saddle point geometry of the potential energy surface. The initial state selected reaction probabilities show that the rotational excitations of H(+)-H(2) greatly enhance the reactivity with the reaction probabilities increased double at high rotational states compared to the ground state. However, the vibrational excitations of H(3) (+) hinder the reactivity. The ground state reaction probability shows no reaction threshold for this exoergic reaction, and as the translational energy increases, the reaction probability decreases. Furthermore, reactive resonances and zero point energy play very important roles on the reaction dynamics. The obtained integral cross section has the character of an exoergic reaction without a threshold: it decreases with the translational energy increasing. The calculated thermal rate constants using this seven-degree-of-freedom model are in agreement with a later experiment measurement.     

Quantum dynamics study of H+NH3-->H2+NH2 reaction

We report in this paper a quantum dynamics study for the reaction H+NH3-->NH2+H2 on the potential energy surface of Corchado and Espinosa-Garcia [J. Chem. Phys. 106, 4013 (1997)]. The quantum dynamics calculation employs the semirigid vibrating rotor target model [J. Z. H. Zhang, J. Chem. Phys. 111, 3929 (1999)] and time-dependent wave packet method to propagate the wave function. Initial state-specific reaction probabilities are obtained, and an energy correction scheme is employed to account for zero point energy changes for the neglected degrees of freedom in the dynamics treatment. Tunneling effect is observed in the energy dependency of reaction probability, similar to those found in H+CH4 reaction. The influence of rovibrational excitation on reaction probability and stereodynamical effect are investigated. Reaction rate constants from the initial ground state are calculated and are compared to those from the transition state theory and experimental measurement.     

Quantum dynamics of the Li + HF --> H + LiF reaction at ultralow temperatures

Quantum-mechanical calculations are reported for the Li+HF(v=0,1,j=0)-->H+LiF(v',j') bimolecular scattering process at low and ultralow temperatures. Calculations have been performed for zero total angular momentum using a recent high-accuracy potential-energy surface for the X2A' electronic ground state. For Li+HF(v=0,j=0), the reaction is dominated by resonances due to the decay of metastable states of the Li cdots,...F-H van der Waals complex. Assignment of these resonances has been carried out by calculating the eigenenergies of the quasibound states. We also find that while chemical reactivity is greatly enhanced by vibrational excitation, the resonances get mostly washed out in the reaction of vibrationally excited HF with Li atoms. In addition, we find that at low energies, the reaction is significantly suppressed due to the less-efficient tunneling of the relatively heavy fluorine atom.     

Rate coefficient for the reaction: Br+Br2O→Br2+BrO

The room temperature rate coefficient for the reaction Br+Br₂O→Br₂+BrO (3) has been measured using the technique of pulse-laser photolysis with long-path transient absorption detection of the BrO reaction product. A value of k₃=(2.0±0.5)×10⁻¹⁰ cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ was determined. The photolysis products of Br₂O at 308 nm were also examined. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 30: 571–576, 1998     

Quantum dynamics study of Li + HF reaction

We report rigorous quantum dynamics studies of the Li + HF reaction using the time-dependent wavepacket approach. The dynamics study is carried out on a recent ab initio potential energy surface, and state-selected reaction probabilities and cross sections are calculated up to 0.4 eV of collision energy. Many long-lived resonances (as long as 10 ps) at low collision energies (below 0.1 eV) are uncovered from the dynamics calculation. These long-lived resonances play a dominant role in the title reaction at low collision energies (below 0.1 eV). At higher energies, the direct reaction process becomes very important. The reaction probabilities from even rotational states exhibit a different energy dependence than those from odd rotational states. Our calculated integral cross section exhibits a broad maximum near the collision energy of 0.26 eV with small oscillations superimposed on the broad envelope which is reminiscent of the underlying resonance structures in reaction probabilities. The energy dependence of the present CS cross section is qualitatively different from the simple J-shifting approximation, in which a monotonic increase of cross section with collision energy was obtained. Received: 8 January 1997 / Accepted: 14 January 1997     

Quantum wave packet calculation of reaction probabilities,cross sections,and rate constants for the C(1D) + HD reaction

The time‐dependent real wave packet method has been used to study the C(¹D) + HD reaction. The state‐to‐state and state‐to‐all reactive scattering probabilities for a broad range of energies are calculated at zero total angular momentum. The probabilities for J > 0 are estimated from accurately computed J = 0 probabilities by using the J‐shifting approximation. The integral cross sections for a large energy range, and thermal rate constants are calculated. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

On the rate and activation energy of the Br + Br2 ataom-exchange reaction

The Br + Br₂ atom-exchange reaction has been studied using quasiclassical trajectories and a semi-empirical potential-energy surface with shallow, long-range wells. The computed reaction rate coefficient is in good agreement with experiment. The computed reaction activation energy is ? 1 kcal/mole.     

Quantum wave-packet dynamics of H+HLi scattering: reaction cross section and thermal rate constant

The channel specific and initial state-selected reaction cross section and temperature-dependent rate constant for the title system is calculated with the aid of a time-dependent wave-packet approach and using the ab initio potential energy surface of Dunne et al. [Chem. Phys. Lett. 336, 1 (2001)]. All partial-wave contributions up to the total angular momentum J=74 are explicitly calculated within the coupled states (CS) approximation. Companion calculations are also carried out employing the standard as well as the uniform J-shifting (JS) approximation. The overall variation of reaction cross sections corresponds well to the behavior of a barrierless reaction. The hydrogen exchange channel yielding HLi+H products is seen to be more favored over the HLi depletion channel yielding Li+H(2) products at low and moderate collision energies. Sharp resonance features are observed in the cross-section results for the HLi depletion channel at low energies. Resonance features in the reaction cross sections average out with various partial-wave contributions, when compared to the same observed in the individual reaction probability curve. Except near the onset of the reaction, the vibrational and rotational excitation of the reagent HLi, in general, does not dramatically influence the reactivity of either channel. The thermal rate constants calculated up to 4000 K show nearly Arrhenius type behavior. The rate constant decreases with vibrational excitation of the reagent HLi, indicating that the cold HLi molecules are efficiently depleted in the reactive encounter with H at relatively low temperatures. The results obtained from the JS approximation are found to agree well qualitatively with the CS results.     

VLPR study of the reaction Br + CH3CHO

The reaction \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}${\rm Br} + {\rm CH}_3 {\rm CHO}\buildrel1\over\rightarrow{\rm HBr} + {\rm CH}_3 {\rm CO}$\end{document} has been studied by VLPR at 300 K. We find k₁ = 2.1 × 10¹² cm³/mol s in excellent agreement with independent measurements from photolysis studies. Combining this value with known thermodynamic data gives k_-1 = 1 × 10¹⁰ cm³/mol s. Observations of mass 42 expected from ketene suggest a rapid secondary reaction: in which step 2 is shown to be rate limiting under VLPR conditions and k₂ is estimated at 10^12.6 cm³/mol s from recent theoretical models for radical recombination. It is also shown that 0 ? E₁ ? 1.4 kcal/mol using theoretical models for calculation of A₁ and is probably closer to the lower limit. Reaction ?1 is negligible under conditions used.     

Quantum chemical reaction dynamics on a highly parallel supercomputer

Summary In this paper we describe the solution of the quantum mechanical equation for the scattering of an atom by a diatomic molecule on a high-performance distributed-memory parallel supercomputer, using the method of symmetrized hyperspherical coordinates and local hyperspherical surface functions. We first cast the problem in a format whose inherent parallelism can be exploited effectively. We next discuss the practical implementation of the parallel programs that were used to solve the problem. The benchmark results and timing obtained from the Caltech/JPL Mark IIIfp hypercube are competitive with the CRAY X-MP, CRAY 2 and CRAY Y-MP supercomputers. These results demonstrate that such highly parallel architectures permit quantum scattering calculations with high efficiency in parallel fashion and should allow us to study larger, more complicated chemical systems. Future extensions to this approach are discussed.Work performed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology.Contribution number 8209     

The dependence of the branching ratio in the F+HD reaction on the initial rotational state of HD

Both classical trajectory and quantal scattering calculations indicate that the branching ratio in the F+HD reaction varies considerably with the initial rotational state of HD. Information theory argues that this variation must be reflected in the distribution of the reaction products. Hence, given the (normalized) product distribution for each reaction path one should be able to predict the dependence of the branching ratio on the state of the reagents. The trajectory computations of Muckerman are used to illustrate the procedure. First the dynamic constraint is identified and then the reaction probability matrix is constructed. The determination (“synthesis”) of the matrix, in terms of the given constraint invokes information theory and, in particular, the procedure of maximising the entropy. The branching ratio is readily computed from the elements of the probability matrix. Very good agreement is obtained between the trajectory-computed and the synthetic branching ratio for all initial rotational states of HD.The F+HD reaction has three possible final arrangement channels (one nonreactive and two reactive ones) and is used to illustrate the structure of the reaction probability matrix and the associated entropy measures.     

Exact state-to-state quantum dynamics of the F + HD --> HF(v' = 2) + D reaction on model potential energy surfaces

In this paper, we present the results of a theoretical investigation on the dynamics of the title reaction at collision energies below 1.2 kcal/mol using rigorous quantum reactive scattering calculations. Vibrationally resolved integral and differential cross sections, as well as product rotational distributions, have been calculated using two electronically adiabatic potential energy surfaces, developed by us on the basis of semiempirical modifications of the entrance channel. In particular, we focus our attention on the role of the exothermicity and of the exit channel region of the interaction on the experimental observables. From the comparison between the theoretical results, insight about the main mechanisms governing the reaction is extracted, especially regarding the bimodal structure of the HF(v = 2) nascent rotational state distributions. A good overall agreement with molecular beam scattering experiments has been obtained.     

Chemical effects of radical vibrational energy content on the abstraction reaction: CF3 + Br2 → CF3Br + Br

We have studied the effect of vibrational mode activation in the CF₃ radical on the bromine abstraction reaction; CF₃ + Br₂ → CF₃Br + Br. Excess vibrational energy resides in the symmetric modes of the radical after 248 nm photolysis of the parent molecule, CF₃I. Our data indicate that the hot radicals react no faster than thermalized CF₃, and may actually have a lower cross-section for reaction. Dynamical factors that result in poor coupling of the vibrational energy to the reaction coordinate, as well as other similar considerations, could be responsible for the experimental observations. In addition, we have made an independent determination of the rate for the bromine abstraction reaction of (1.08 ± .13) × 10¹² s^?1 cm³ mol^?1.     

Quantum and quasiclassical state-to-state dynamics of the NH + H reaction: competition between abstraction and exchange channels

Quantum and quasiclassical state-to-state dynamics for the NH + H' reaction at high collision energies up to 1.6 eV was studied on an accurate ab initio potential energy surface. Both of the endothermic abstraction (NH + H' → N + HH') and thermoneutral exchange (NH + H' → H + NH') channels were investigated from the same set of wave packets using an efficient coordinate transformation method. It is found that the abstraction represents a minor reaction channel in the energy range studied, primarily due to endothermicity. The cross section for the abstraction reaction increases monotonically with the collision energy, while that for the exchange reaction is relatively energy insensitive. As a result, the thermal rate constant for the abstraction reaction follows the Arrhenius law, where that for the exchange reaction is nearly temperature independent. Finally, it is shown that the quantum mechanical results can be reasonably reproduced by the Gaussian-binning quasiclassical trajectory method and to a lesser extent by a quantum statistical model.     

Quantum dynamics of the H + O2 --> O + OH reaction on an accurate ab initio potential energy surface

We report exact time-dependent and time-independent quantum mechanical studies of the title reaction on an accurate ab initio potential energy surface of Xu et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 2005, 122, 24305). The J = 0 reaction probabilities for several reactant states show sharp resonance structures superimposed on relatively low backgrounds, and they are remarkably different from existing quantum results on an earlier potential energy surface (DMBE-IV). The new findings reported here suggest that our current understanding of this important reaction might require significant revision.     

Theoretical study on the Br + CH3SCH3 reaction

The multiple-channel reactions Br + CH(3)SCH(3) --> products are investigated by direct dynamics method. The optimized geometries, frequencies, and minimum energy path are all obtained at the MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level, and energetic information is further refined by the G3(MP2) (single-point) theory. The rate constants for every reaction channels, Br + CH(3)SCH(3) --> CH(3)SCH(2) + HBr (R1), Br + CH(3)SCH(3) --> CH(3)SBr + CH(3) (R2), and Br + CH(3)SCH(3) -->CH(3)S + CH(3)Br (R3), are calculated by canonical variational transition state theory with small-curvature tunneling correction over the temperature range 200-3000 K. The total rate constants are in good agreement with the available experimental data, and the two-parameter expression k(T) = 2.68 x 10(-12) exp(-1235.24/T) cm(3)/(molecule s) over the temperature range 200-3000 K is given. Our calculations indicate that hydrogen abstraction channel is the major channel due to the smallest barrier height among three channels considered, and the other two channels to yield CH(3)SBr + CH(3) and CH(3)S + CH(3)Br are minor channels over the whole temperature range.