Non-adiabatic couplings induced complex-forming mechanism in H+MgH+ → Mg++H2 reaction

Abstract

A chemical process may involve multiple adiabatic electronic states, and non-adiabatic couplings play an important role in the reaction mechanism. In this work, the effect of non-adiabatic couplings in the H+MgH+ → Mg+ + H2 reaction are studied using the time-dependent wave packet method and trajectory surface hopping method. The calculated results show that the reaction follows a direct abstraction process when the non-adiabatic couplings are neglected. However, when non-adiabatic couplings are included in the calculations, a long-lived excited state complex (MgH2+)* can be formed during the reaction. These direct and complex-forming reaction pathways are revealed by trajectory surface hopping calculations. The non-adiabatic couplings induced complex-forming mechanism not only increases the reactivity but also has significant effect on the product vibrational state distribution.