On the kinetic stability of the SH3X species with X=F,Cl

Portions of the S, H₃, X] (X=F, Cl) potential energy surfaces (PESs) were explored using the RHF, MP2, and QCISD(T) methods with emphasis on H₂ and HX eliminations, SH₃X→SHX+H₂ and SH₃X→SH₂+HX, respectively. Upon the halogen X substitution, the most favorable decomposition pathway of SH₄ went over to HX elimination, proceeding with a very low activation barrier of 6.9 (X=F) and 1.3 (X=Cl) kcal/mol. Moreover, the transition states (TSs) for H₂ elimination from SH₃X resembled the less favorable homopolar TS of SH₄. Upon the X=F substitution, the barrier to H₂ loss of SH₄ was calculated to increase from 19.5 to 21.5 kcal/mol. For X=Cl, only the indirect H₂ elimination path via the SH₂+HCl→SHCl+H₂ exchange was found. The hydrogen‐exchange reaction SH₂+HX→SH₂+HX was predicted to occur through formation of the hydrogen‐bonded complex XHSH₂ and with a relatively high barrier of 43.5 (X=F) and 38.5 (X=Cl) kcal/mol. FHSH₂ and ClHSH₂ were found to be the lowest energy species on the S, H₃, F] and S, H₃, Cl] PESs, lying 53.4 and 44.7 kcal/mol below SH₃F and SH₃Cl, respectively. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 73: 37–43, 1999