An ab initio chemical kinetic study on the reactions of H,OH, and Cl with HOClO3

The mechanisms for reactions of H, HO, and Cl with HOClO₃, important elementary processes in the early stages of the ammonium perchlorate (AP) combustion reaction, have been investigated at the CCSD(T)/6‐311+G(3df,2p)//PW91PW91/6‐311+G(3df) level of theory. The rate constants for the low‐energy channels have been calculated by statistical theory. For the reaction of H and HOClO₃, the main channels are the production of H₂ + ClO₄ (k_1a) and HO + HOClO₂ (k_1b); k_1a and k_1b can be represented as 1.07 × 10^?17 T^1.97 exp(?7484/T) and 6.08 × 10^?17T^1.96 exp(?7729/T) cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1, respectively. For the HO + HOClO₃ reaction, the main pathway is the H₂O + ClO₄ (k_2a) production process, with the predicted rate constant k_2a = 1.24 × 10 ^?8 T^?2.99 exp(1664/T) for 300–500 K and k_2a = 1.27×10^?19 T^2.12 exp(?1474/T) for 500–3000 K. For the Cl + HOClO₃ reaction, the formation of HOCl + ClO₃ (k_3a) and HCl + ClO₄ (k_3b) is dominant, with k_3a = 1.33×10^?12 T^0.67 exp(?9658/T) and k_3b = 1.75×10¹⁶ T^1.63 exp(?11156/T) cm³ molecules^?1 in the range of 300–3000 K. In addition, the heats of formation of ClO₃ and HOClO₃ have been predicted based on several isodesmic and/or isogyric reactions with Δ_fH^o₀ (ClO₃) = 47.0 ± 1.0 and Δ_fH^o₀ (HOClO₃) = 5.5 ± 1.5 kcal/mol, respectively. These data may be used for kinetic simulation of the AP decomposition and combustion reaction. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 253–261, 2010