Transition state theory thermal rate constants and RRKM‐based branching ratios for the N(2D) + CH4 reaction based on multi‐sState and multi‐reference Ab Initio calculations of interest for the titan's chemistry

Multireference single and double configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations including Davidson (+Q) or Pople (+P) corrections have been conducted in this work for the reactants, products, and extrema of the doublet ground state potential energy surface involved in the N( ² D) + CH₄ reaction. Such highly correlated ab initio calculations are then compared with previous PMP4, CCSD(T), W1, and DFT/B3LYP studies. Large relative differences are observed in particular for the transition state in the entrance channel resolving the disagreement between previous ab initio calculations. We confirm the existence of a small but positive potential barrier (3.86 ± 0.84 kJ mol^?1 (MR‐AQCC) and 3.89 kJ mol^?1 (MRCI+P)) in the entrance channel of the title reaction. The correlation is seen to change significantly the energetic position of the two minima and five saddle points of this system together with the dissociation channels but not their relative order. The influence of the electronic correlation into the energetic of the system is clearly demonstrated by the thermal rate constant evaluation and it temperature dependance by means of the transition state theory. Indeed, only MRCI values are able to reproduce the experimental rate constant of the title reaction and its behavior with temperature. Similarly, product branching ratios, evaluated by means of unimolecular RRKM theory, confirm the NH production of Umemoto et al., whereas previous works based on less accurate ab initio calculations failed. We confirm the previous findings that the N( ² D) + CH₄ reaction proceeds via an insertion–dissociation mechanism and that the dominant product channels are CH₂NH + H and CH₃ + NH. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.