Search

Interpolation methods such as the nudged elastic band and string methods are widely used for calculating minimum energy pathways and transition states for chemical reactions. Both methods require an initial guess for the reaction pathway. A poorly chosen initial guess can cause slow convergence, convergence to an incorrect pathway, or even failed electronic structure force calculations along the guessed pathway. This paper presents a growing string method that can find minimum energy pathways and transition states without the requirement of an initial guess for the pathway. The growing string begins as two string fragments, one associated with the reactants and the other with the products. Each string fragment is grown separately until the fragments converge. Once the two fragments join, the full string moves toward the minimum energy pathway according to the algorithm for the string method. This paper compares the growing string method to the string method and to the nudged elastic band method using the alanine dipeptide rearrangement as an example. In this example, for which the linearly interpolated guess is far from the minimum energy pathway, the growing string method finds the saddle point with significantly fewer electronic structure force calculations than the string method or the nudged elastic band method. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous paper in this series [J. Chem. Phys. 93, 2384 (1990)] a global potential energy surface (PES) was presented for H+N2→HN2. In this paper, we report additional calculations which characterize PES’s for the excited 2A‘ state, for a bound 2 2A’ state, for HN+2, and for the Rydberg states associated with HN+2. It is anticipated that these excited state PES’s will be important in interpreting and designing experiments to characterize the ground state HN2 species via neutralized ion beam techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a general theoretical framework which allows us to approximate the real space Ewald sum by means of effective force shifted screened potentials, together with a self term. Using this strategy it is possible to generalize the reaction field method, as a means to approximate the real space Ewald sum. We show that this method exhibits faster convergence of the Coulomb energy than several schemes proposed recently in the literature while enjoying a much more sound and clear electrostatic significance. In terms of the damping parameter of the screened potential, we are able to identify two clearly distinct regimes of convergence. First, a reaction field regime corresponding to the limit of small screening, where effective pair potentials converge faster than the Ewald sum. Second, an Ewald regime, where the plain real space Ewald sum converges faster. Tuning the screening parameter for optimal convergence occurs essentially at the crossover. The implication is that effective pair potentials are an alternative to the Ewald sum only in those cases where optimization of the convergence error is not possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently introduced a parameterized coupled-cluster singles and doubles model (pCCSD(α, β)) that consists of a bivariate parameterization of the CCSD equations and is inspired by the coupled electron pair approximations. In our previous work, it was demonstrated that the pCCSD(-1, 1) method is an improvement over CCSD for the calculation of geometries, harmonic frequencies, and potential energy surfaces for single bond-breaking. In this paper, we find suitable pCCSD parameters for applications in reaction thermochemistry and thermochemical kinetics. The motivation is to develop an accurate and economical methodology that, when coupled with a robust local correlation framework based on localized pair natural orbitals, is suitable for large-scale thermochemical applications for sizeable molecular systems. It is demonstrated that the original pCCSD(-1, 1) method and several other pCCSD methods are a significant improvement upon the standard CCSD approach and that these methods often approach the accuracy of CCSD(T) for the calculation of reaction energies and barrier heights. We also show that a local version of the pCCSD methodology, implemented within the local pair natural orbital (LPNO) based CCSD code in ORCA, is sufficiently accurate for wide-scale chemical applications. The LPNO based methodology allows us for routine applications to intermediate sized (20-100 atoms) molecular systems and is a significantly more accurate alternative to MP2 and density functional theory for the prediction of reaction energies and barrier heights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrogen storage system LiH + NH3 ↔ LiNH2 + H2 is one of the most promising hydrogen storage systems, where the reaction yield can be increased by replacing Li in LiH with other alkali metals (Na or K) in order of Li < Na < K. In this paper, we have studied the alkali metal M (M = Li, Na, K) dependence of the reactivity of MH with NH3 by calculating the potential barrier of the H2 desorption process from the reaction of an M2H2 cluster with an NH3 molecule based on the ab initio structure optimization method. We have shown that the height of the potential barrier becomes lower in order of Li, Na, and K, where the difference of the potential barrier in Li and Na is relatively smaller than that in Na and K, and this tendency is consistent with the recent experimental results. We have also shown that the H-H distance of the H2 dimer at the transition state takes larger distance and the change of the potential energy around the transition state becomes softer in order of Li, Na, and K. There are almost no M dependence in the charge of the H atom in NH3 before the reaction, while that of the H atom in M2H2 takes larger negative value in order of Li, Na, and K. We have also performed molecular dynamics simulations on the M2H2-NH3 system and succeeded to reproduce the H2 desorption from the reaction of Na2H2 with NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously reported experimental evidence for conformationally selective dissociation of propanal cation that was interpreted, on the basis of ab initio multiple spawning calculations, as arising from distinct dynamics in the excited state manifold of the cation. Two conical intersections (CIs) are accessible from Franck-Condon points on the dark state; however, different conformers prefer different CIs and quench to different regions on the ground state. In this paper, we extend our initial report to include experimental results for the partially deuterated propanal cation as well as detailed characterization of the ground state potential energy surface and statistical calculations of the ground state dissociation dynamics. The DC slice imaging experiments show a bimodal velocity distribution for H elimination with the observed branching ratio of the two channels different for the cis and gauche conformers. H(D)-elimination experiments from deuterated propanal cation support the dissociation mechanism proposed in the earlier report. We further investigate reaction rates on the ground state using Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory. We find that the experimental results are consistent with a mechanistic picture where the ground state dissociation is statistical, and conformer specificity of the dissociation products arises because of the different populations in distinct ground state isomers after photoexcitation due to ultrafast quenching to the ground state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we compare semiclassical initial value representation, conventional transition state theory with Wigner and Eckart tunneling correction, quantum reduced dimensionality, and quasiclassical thermal rate coefficients for N+N2 exchange reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the outstanding issues in the quantum instanton (QI) theory (or any transition-state-type theory) for thermal rate constants of chemical reactions is the choice of an appropriate “dividing surface” (DS) that separates reactants and products. (In the general version of the QI theory, there are actually two dividing surfaces involved.) This paper shows one simple and general way for choosing DSs for use in QI theory, namely, using the family of (hyper) planes normal to the minimum energy path on the potential energy surface at various distances s along it. Here the reaction coordinate is not one of the dynamical coordinates of the system (which will in general be the Cartesian coordinates of the atoms), but rather simply a parameter which specifies the DS. It is also shown how this idea can be implemented for an N atom system in three-dimensional space in a way that preserves overall translational and rotational invariance. Numerical application to a simple system (the collinear H+H2 reaction) is presented to illustrate the procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new ground state (1 2A′) electronic potential energy surface for the F(2P)+HCl→HF+Cl(2P) reaction. The ab initio calculations are done at the multireference configuration interaction+Davidson correction (MRCI+Q) level of theory by complete basis set extrapolation of the aug-cc-pVnZ (n=2,3,4) energies. Due to low-lying charge transfer states in the transition state region, the molecular orbitals are obtained by six-state dynamically weighted multichannel self-consistent field methods. Additional perturbative refinement of the energies is achieved by implementing simple one-parameter correlation energy scaling to reproduce the experimental exothermicity (ΔE=-33.06 kcal/mol) for the reaction. Ab initio points are fitted to an analytical function based on sum of two- and three-body contributions, yielding a rms deviation of <0.3 kcal/mol for all geometries below 10 kcal/mol above the barrier. Of particular relevance to nonadiabatic dynamics, the calculations show significant multireference character in the transition state region, which is located 3.8 kcal/mol with respect to F+HCl reactants and features a strongly bent F–H–Cl transition state geometry (θ≈123.5°). Finally, the surface also exhibits two conical intersection seams that are energetically accessible at low collision energies. These seams arise naturally from allowed crossings in the C∞v linear configuration that become avoided in Cs bent configurations of both the reactant and product, and should be a hallmark of all X–H–Y atom transfer reaction dynamics between (2P) halogen atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a theoretical study using time-dependent nonadiabatic reactant-product decoupling method for the state-to-state reactive scattering calculation of F(2P1/2)+H2 (ν=j=0) reaction on the Alexander-Stark-Werner potential energy surface. In this nonadiabatic state-to-state calculation, the full wave function is partitioned into reactant component and a sum of all product components. The reactant and product components of the wave function are solved independently. For the excited state reaction, the state-to-state reaction probabilities for J=0.5 are calculated. Comparing the state-to-state reaction probabilities, it is found that the vibrational population of the HF product is dominated by vibrational levels ν=2 and 3. The rotation specific reaction probabilities of HF product in j=1 and 2 are larger than those in other rotational levels. As the rotation quantum number j increases, the positions of the peak in the rotational reaction probability of HF product in ν=3 shift to higher collision energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report a combined experimental and theoretical study on the dynamics of the insertion reaction C(1D)+D2 at 15.5 kJ mol-1 collision energy. Product angular and velocity distributions have been obtained in crossed beam experiments and quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) and rigorous statistical calculations have been performed on the recent and accurate ab initio potential energy surface of Bussery-Honvault, Honvault, and Launay at the energy of the experiment. The molecular-beam results have been simulated using the theoretical calculations. Good agreement between experiment and both QCT and statistical predictions is found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we demonstrate, at the UHF/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, the practical feasibility of using ab initio quantum chemical calculations to generate a molecular potential energy surface (PES) for the OH+H2→H2O+H reaction using our previously suggested interpolation and iteration schemes. The successful, and almost completely automated, merger of the PES algorithm and quantum chemical calculations involves a number of significant practical problems, the solutions of which are presented in detail. The convergence of the interpolated potential surface was monitored in terms of reaction probability and we find that the surface converges once the energy, gradient and Hessian have been calculated at approximately 350 geometries. We also find that, although the initial geometries used consisted only of points along a reaction path for the OH+H2→H2O+H reaction, the potential energy surface iteration process rapidly adds information about other, energetically accessible, reaction channels. © 1996 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonbonding interaction of boron atoms, in their ground 2s22p 2P and excited 2s23s 2S states, with H2 and D2 has been investigated through laser fluorescence excitation spectroscopy in a supersonic free jet. For these isotopomeric complexes, an asymmetric, unstructured feature is observed, with maximum intensity ∼620 cm-1 to the blue of the 3s 2S–2p 2P atomic transition. The width of this feature is somewhat narrower for B–D2 than for B–H2. The fluorescence emission occurs in the same wavelength range as the boron atomic transition. These observations imply that the B(3s)–H2 interaction is repulsive in the Franck–Condon region. No evidence for chemical reaction on the excited BH2 potential energy surface was found. The observed formation of these complexes in the supersonic beam also suggests that there is a significant barrier to formation of the stable BH2 molecule from B(2p)+H2. These spectra have been interpreted with the help of ab initio calculations of the B(2p,3s)–H2 interactions and the bend–stretch energies of the complex, both reported in the preceding paper [M. H. Alexander and M. Yang, J. Chem. Phys. 103, 7956 (1995)]. From comparison with these calculations, our spectra can be assigned as electronic excitation from the lowest bend–stretch level of the B(2p)–H2/D2 complex to a repulsive region of the electronically excited potential energy surface. Spectral simulations based on the theoretical treatment of this nonbonding interaction reproduce quite well the observed spectra. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple formula for the canonical flexible transition state theory expression for the thermal reaction rate constant is derived that is exact in the limit of the reaction path being well approximated by the distance between the centers of mass of the reactants. This formula evaluates classically the contribution to the rate constant from transitional degrees of freedom (those that evolve from free rotations in the limit of infinite separation of the reactants). As a result of this treatment, the formula contains the product of two factors: one that exclusively depends on the collision kinematics and one that exclusively depends on the potential energy surface that controls the transitional degrees of freedom. This second factor smoothly varies, in the classical limit, from harmonic oscillator to hindered rotor to free rotor partition functions as the potential energy surface varies from quadratic to sinusoidal to a constant in its dependence on the relative orientation angles of the fragments. An application to the recombination of CH3+H essentially demonstrates exact agreement with a previous flexible transition state theory study in which all integrals are carried out numerically. The simple formulas presented in this paper allow the classical inclusion of large amplitude motion of arbitrary complexity in the determination of the canonical rate constant for reactions whose reaction path is dominated by the distance between the centers of mass of the reactants. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending our previous studies for the H2+OH reaction in five mathematical dimensions (5D) [J. Chem. Phys. 99, 5615 (1993); 100, 2697 (1994)], we present in this paper a full-dimensional (6D) dynamics study for the title reaction. The 6D treatment uses the time-dependent wave-packet approach and employs discrete variable representations for three radial coordinates and coupled angular momentum basis functions for three angular coordinates. The present 6D study employs an energy projection method to extract reaction probabilities for a whole range of energies from a single wave-packet propagation, while previous studies produced only energy-averaged reaction probability from a single wave-packet propagation. The application of the energy-projection method allows us to efficiently map out the energy dependence of the reaction probability on a fine grid which revealed surprisingly sharp resonancelike features at low collision energies on the Schatz–Elgersma potential surface. Our calculation shows that the potential-averaged 5D treatment can produce reaction probabilities essentially indistinguishable from the full-dimensional result. We also report initial state-selected reaction cross sections and rate constants which are in good agreement with our previous calculations. The effect of OH vibration on H2+OH reaction is examined in the present study and our calculation shows that the OH vibration can enhance the rate constant by about a factor of 1.7 in good agreement with the experimental estimate of about 1.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives a theoretical treatment of liquid-phase activated barrier crossing that is valid for chemical reactions which occur on typical (e.g., high activation barrier) potential-energy surfaces. This treatment is based on our general approach [S. A. Adelman, Adv. Chem. Phys. 53, 61 (1983)] to problems in liquid-phase chemical dynamics. We focus on the early-time regime [times short compared to the relaxation time of 0, the fluctuating force autocorrelation function of the reaction coordinate] in which the solvent is nearly ‘‘frozen.’’ This regime has been shown to be important for the determination of the rate constant in the molecular-dynamics simulations of model aqueous SN2 reactions due to Wilson and co-workers. Our treatment is based on a generalized Langevin equation of motion which naturally represents the physics of the early-time regime.In this regime the main features of the reaction dynamics are governed by the instantaneous potential WIP[y,F], which accounts for the cage confinement forces which dominate the liquid-phase effects at early times, rather than by the familiar potential of mean force. The instantaneous potential is derived from the t→0 limit of the equation of motion and its properties are developed for both symmetric and nonsymmetric reactions. The potential is then shown to account for both the early-time barrier recrossing processes found to determine the transmission coefficient κ in the SN2 simulations and the dependence of these processes on environmental fluctuations modeled by F. Making the parabolic approximation for the gas-phase part of WIP[y,F] yields the following result for the transmission coefficient: κ=ω-1PMFx+=ω-1PMFωMIP[1+ω-2 MIPΘ(x+)]1/2≠ ω-1PMFω MIP[1+ (1)/(2) ω-2MIPΘ(ωMIP)], where ωMIP and ωPMF are, respectively, the barrier frequencies of WIP[y,F=0] and of the potential of mean force, and... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a chemical bond is broken in a direct dissociation reaction, the process is so rapid that it has generally been considered instantaneous and therefore unobservable. But the fragments formed interact with one another for times on the order of 10-13 s after the photon has been absorbed. On this time scale the system passes through intermediate transition configurations; the totality of such configurations have been, in the recent literature, designated as ‘‘transition states.’’ Femtosecond transition-state spectroscopy (FTS) is a real-time technique for probing chemical reactions. It allows the direct observation of a molecule in the process of falling apart or in the process of formation. In this paper, the first in a series on femtosecond real-time probing of reactions, we examine the technique in detail. The concept of FTS is explored, and the interrelationship between the dynamics of chemical reactions and molecular potential energy surfaces is considered. The experimental method, which requires the generation of spectrally tunable femtosecond optical pulses, is detailed. Illustrative results from FTS experiments for several elementary reactions are presented, and we describe methods for relating these results to the potential energy surface(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a small (6 to 9 basis functions) model for the potential energy surfaces relevant to the chemical reaction O(1D)+H2→OH(X 2Π)+H. The model is optimized with respect to the 1A′ and 1A″ states correlating with the reagents and products of this reaction; this is done in such a way as to simultaneously provide a qualitatively correct description of the 3A′ and 3A″ states of H2O. In this sense the model is self-consistent. In agreement with other semiempirical work, the results indicate that two 1A′ surfaces and one 1A″ surface are pertinent for a dynamical study of this reaction. The model adequately represents the most important features of H2O potential energy surfaces and is at the same time small enough to be used directly in a trajectory calculation of the reaction cross section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive cross sections have been computed for the five alkali metals reacting with bromine molecules. The computations were carried out on the potential energy surfaces described in the companion paper. A new type of reaction mechanism, vibrational capture, is predicted to occur for these systems. The calculated cross sections agree well with the experimental data at low collision energies. At higher energies there are indications that not all reactions at small impact parameters are reactive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]