Intermolecular interactions and proton transfer in the hydrogen halide-superoxide anion complexes.

Abstract

The superoxide radical anion O2(-) is involved in many important chemical processes spanning different scientific disciplines (e.g., environmental and biological sciences). Characterizing its interaction with various substrates to help elucidate its rich chemistry may have far reaching implications. Herein, we investigate the interaction between O2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)Πg) and the hydrogen halides (X[combining tilde] (1)Σ) with coupled-cluster theory. In contrast to the short (1.324 Å) hydrogen bond formed between the HF and O2(-) monomers, a barrierless proton transfer occurs for the heavier hydrogen halides with the resulting complexes characterized as long (>1.89 Å) hydrogen bonds between halide anions and the HO2 radical. The dissociation energy with harmonic zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) for FHO2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') → HF (X[combining tilde] (1)Σ) + O2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)Πg) is 31.2 kcal mol(-1). The other dissociation energies with ZPVE for X(-)HO2 (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') → X(-) (X[combining tilde] (1)Σ) + HO2 (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') are 25.7 kcal mol(-1) for X = Cl, 21.9 kcal mol(-1) for X = Br, and 17.9 kcal mol(-1) for X = I. Additionally, the heavier hydrogen halides can form weak halogen bonds H-XO2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') with interaction energies including ZPVE of -2.3 kcal mol(-1) for HCl, -8.3 kcal mol(-1) for HBr, and -16.7 kcal mol(-1) for HI.