Canonical Transition State Theory Research Articles

Unimolecular isomerizations of C6H6•+ radical cations: a computational study.

Eighteen concerted isomerization reactions of various C6H6•+ radical cation (RC) species are studied and found to proceed via well-defined transition states, whose relative positions along the reaction pathway generally agree with Hammond's postulate. From the barrier heights, the rate coefficients of these reactions are estimated by using transition state theory, and the activation energies are computed. Through combination among themselves, these 18 isomerizations yielded 15 multi-step conversion routes of various C6H6•+ species to the lowest energy benzene radical cation isomer 1, which routes are compared. Use is made of DFT with the B3LYP and M06-2X functionals, along with the CBS-QB3 approach to arrive at better energies. From the barrier heights for each of the concerted reactions, canonical transition state theory was applied to evaluate rate coefficients k over the temperature range 200-500K. The Arrhenius activation energies were computed using the plot of ln k vs. 1/T.

Hydrogen abstraction reactions by NH2 radicals from C3-C6 Cycloalkanes: A theoretical study

Amino (NH2) radicals are crucial in ammonia pyrolysis and oxidation, and their reactions in NH3-dual-fuel combustion are well-recognized. We theoretically investigated the reactions of NH2 radicals with C3-C6 cycloalkanes – a component type of gasoline, using the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. Canonical transition state theory with corrections for hindered internal rotation and Eckart tunneling effects was employed to gain high-pressure limiting rate constants over 500 – 2000 K. Our calculated rate constant for NH2 with cyclohexane matches the experimental measurement, though experimental data for other reactions are limited. The Arrhenius parameters for the studied reactions are also provided.

Reassessment of the High-Temperature Oxidation of Di Ethyl Ether through Ab Initio Calculations.

Recent investigations of diethyl ether (DEE) high-temperature pyrolysis and fuel-rich oxidation have highlighted the failure of existing kinetic models to describe experimental CO production. The DEE high-temperature pyrolysis and oxidation chemistry is thus investigated through ab initio calculations. Geometries, frequencies, and hindered-rotor potentials of reactants, products, and transition states of key reactions (fuel decomposition radical decomposition and H-abstraction reactions) are calculated with the B2PLYP-D3/def2-TZVPD method, whereas final energies are refined using CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pV(D,T)Z. Temperature- and pressure-dependent rate constants are then derived from either canonical transition state theory (CTST) or ME/RRKM analysis with the inclusion of tunneling effect and hindered-rotor corrections and compared to experimental measurements when available as well as to previously suggested values. This new information is then merged with a C0-C3 core chemistry model and a low-temperature chemistry DEE subset from the literature to propose a new kinetic model for the combustion of DEE. This model is tested successfully against a large database related to the high-temperature oxidation and pyrolysis chemistry of DEE, including ignition delay times, shock tube speciation data, time-resolved CO profiles, laminar flame speeds, flame structures, and jet-stirred reactor data.

An experimental and theoretical study of photo-oxidation reaction of 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran with Cl atom under atmospheric conditions.

Temperature-dependent rate coefficients for the reactions of 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran (MTHF) with Cl atoms in the temperature range of 268-343K at atmospheric pressure were measured using the relative-rate method. Ethylene and propane were used as reference compounds. Quantitative analysis of the post-photolysis reaction mixture was conducted using a gas chromatograph paired with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). A gas chromatograph connected to a mass spectrometer (GC-MS) was employed for the purpose of qualitative analysis. In the experimental temperature range, the derived Arrhenius expression for the title reaction is represented by the equation cm3 molecule-1s-1. In addition to our experimental findings, we conducted computational calculations employing the CCSD(T)//BHandHLYP/6-31 + G(d,p) level of theory to complement our study. The canonical transition state theory (CTST) was utilized to compute the rate coefficients at 250-400K and 760Torr. The Arrhenius expression for the theoretically calculated "k" values is found to be cm3 molecule-1s-1. The local reactivity parameters, such as Fukui functions ( ), local softness ( ), and global softness ( ) were also calculated theoretically to understand the site-specific reactivity trend of MTHF towards Cl atoms. The atmospheric implications, branching ratios, degradation mechanism, and feasibility of the reaction are discussed in this study.

Oxepin Derivatives Formation from Gas-Phase Catechol Ozonolysis.

Quantum chemical calculations are performed to explore all of the possible pathways for primary ozonide (POZ) formation from gas-phase ozonolysis of catechol. Canonical transition state theory has been used to calculate the rate coefficients of individual steps for the formation of POZ. The calculated rate coefficients for 1,3-cycloaddition of ozone at the (i) unsaturated C(OH)═C(OH) bond and (ii) CH═C(OH) of catechol, respectively, are in good agreement with the experimental rate constant. In general, subsequent decomposition of POZ leads to well-known Criegee Intermediates. This work reveals a parallel pathway by which the endo-addition of ozone at CH═C(OH) of catechol proceeds through oxepin derivatives along with the paths leading to Criegee Intermediates and peroxy acids. The 7-membered heterocyclic oxepin derivatives have lower energies than Criegee Intermediates but similar relative energies with peroxy acids.

Oxidation of the 1‐naphthyl radical C10H7• with oxygen: Thermochemistry, kinetics, and possible reaction pathways

AbstractThe reaction of the 1‐naphthyl radical C10H7• (A2•) with molecular (3O2) and atomic oxygen, as part of the oxidation reactions of naphthalene, is examined using ab‐initio and DFT quantum chemistry calculations. The study focuses on pathways that produce the intermediate final products CO, phenyl and C2H2, which may constitute a repetitive reaction sequence for the successive diminution of six‐membered rings also in larger polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The primary attack of 3O2 on the 1‐naphthyl radical leads to a peroxy radical C10H7OO• (A2OO•), which undergoes further propagation and/or chain branching reactions. The thermochemistry of intermediates and transition state structures is investigated as well as the identification of all plausible reaction pathways for the A2• + O2 / A2• + O systems. Structures and enthalpies of formation for the involved species are reported along with transition state barriers and reaction pathways. Standard enthalpies of formation are calculated using ab initio (CBS‐QB3) and DFT calculations (B3LYP, M06, APFD). The reaction of A2• with 3O2 opens six main consecutive reaction channels with new ones not currently considered in oxidation mechanisms. The reaction paths comprise important exothermic chain branching reactions and the formation of unsaturated oxygenated hydrocarbon intermediates. The primary attack of 3O2 at the A2• radical has a well depth of some 50 kcal mol−1 while the six consecutive channels exhibit energy barriers below the energy of the A2• radical. The kinetic parameters of each path are determined using chemical activation analysis based on the canonical transition state theory calculations. The investigated reactions could serve as part of a comprehensive mechanism for the oxidation of naphthalene. The principal result from this study is that the consecutive reactions of the A2• radical, viz. the channels conducting to a phenyl radical C6H5•, CO2, CO (which oxidized to CO2) and C2H2 are by orders of magnitude faster than the activation of naphthalene by oxygen (A2 + O2 → A2• + HO2).

Theoretical Kinetic Study on Hydrogen Abstraction Reactions from n-Pentane by NO2.

The interaction of fuel with NOx chemistry is important for the construction of the reaction mechanism and engine application. In this work, the reaction pathways of nC5H12 + NO2 were studied by high-level electronic structure calculations (DLPNO-CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVTZ-F12//B2PLYPD3/cc-pVTZ). The rate constants were calculated by using the multistructural canonical transition-state theory with the Eckart tunneling method (TST/MS-T/ET). The studied condition is in a wide temperature range of 298-2400 K. The influence of MS-T anharmonicity and tunneling effect will be clarified for these site-specific H-abstraction pathways. The result reflects the large deviation introduced by the treatment of MS-T anharmonicity, especially at a high temperature. For the same type of reactions, the rate constants of H-abstraction both occurring at the secondary carbon are not almost identical. The branching ratios show that abstraction from the secondary site forming cis-HONO (R2c) contributes 36-78% to nC5H12 consumption in the temperature range of 298-2400 K. The current results show that the multistructural torsional anharmonicity has a crucial influence on the accurate estimation of branching ratios.

Kinetic study of hydrogen abstraction reactions from n-propyl/n-butylcyclohexane by hydrogen atom

Hydrogen abstraction reactions of alkylated cycloalkane by radicals play a fundamental role in combustion and atmospheric chemistry. In this work, we select two representative molecules in alkylated cycloalkane fuels, n-propylcyclohexane (nPCH) and n-butylcyclohexane (nBCH), to investigate the kinetics of their hydrogen abstraction reactions with hydrogen atom. The rate constants over a broad temperature range of 298–2000 K were calculated by using canonical transition state theory coupled with the multistructural torsional anharmonicity effect (TST/MS-T). We stress the particular importance of considering the MS-T anharmonicity for the investigated species involved in the H-abstraction pathways. Due to the approximate cancelation of the anharmonicity factor between the transition-state species and the reactant, the anharmonicity factors for reactions are spread over a narrower range of 0.7–3.3. The anharmonicity will slightly accelerate the H-abstraction for the nBCH system over the whole temperature range. The current results show that the multistructural torsional anharmonicity will influence the accurate estimation of competing relationships. We found that the total H-abstraction rate constants of the nBCH system by the TST/MS-T method are larger by factors of 1.2–1.3 than those for the nPCH system. The present data show that nPCH + H channels are less important by factors of 1.41–5.48 than currently estimated by the commonly used nPCH pyrolysis model. The H-abstraction ratios from the cyclic ring and side chain groups reveal that the rate rule for secondary carbon in chain alkanes does not represent the reactivity of all cycloalkanes well, e.g. the ratio between the cyclic ring and side chain group is high up to 2.8.

Atmospheric degradation mechanism of anthracene initiated by OH•: A DFT prediction

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the M06-2X/def2-TZVP level have been employed to investigate the atmospheric oxidation mechanism of anthracene (ANT) initiated by HO•. Direct hydrogen atom abstraction from the ANT using HO• takes place hardly at ambient conditions while addition of HO• to the C1, C2, and C4 sites are thermodynamically and kinetically more advantageous. The addition reactions are controlled by the aromaticity and the kinetic trends were justified by resonance stabilization energies. The rate constants were calculated by using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) and canonical transition state theory (CTST) methods in conjugation with zero curvature tunneling (ZCT). The overall RRKM-bimolecular rate constant at ambient conditions is 6.72 × 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, is negatively dependent on the temperature and can be expressed as k250−3501bar=3.92×10−14exp(1534.9T). Contribution of the AD-C4 path in the overall reaction is about 70–80%, implying that the dependence of overall rate constant on pressure can be ignored. The kinetic data exhibit that the ANT is degraded during its long-range transport in the atmosphere and cannot be classified as persistent organic pollutants.

A theoretical kinetic study of the reactions of NH2 radicals with methanol and ethanol and their implications in kinetic modeling

AbstractAmino (NH2) radicals play a central role in the pyrolysis and oxidation of ammonia. Several reports in the literature highlight the importance of the reactions of NH2 radicals with fuel in NH3‐dual‐fuel combustion. Therefore, we investigated the reactions of NH2 radicals with methanol (CH3OH) and ethanol (C2H5OH) theoretically. We explored the various reaction pathways by exploiting CCSD(T)/cc‐pV(T, Q)Z//M06‐2X/aug‐cc‐pVTZ level of theory. The reaction proceeds via complex formation at the entrance and exit channels in an overall exothermic process. We used canonical transition state theory to obtain the high‐pressure limiting rate coefficients for various channels over the temperature range of 300–2000 K. We discerned the role of various channels in the potential energy surface (PES) of NH2 + CH3OH/C2H5OH reactions. For both reactions, the hydrogen abstraction pathway at the OH‐site of alcohols plays a minor role in the entire T‐range investigated. By including the title reactions into an extensive kinetic model, we demonstrated that the reaction of NH2 radicals with alcohols plays a paramount role in accurately predicting the low‐temperature oxidation kinetics of NH3‐alcohols dual fuel systems (e.g., shortening the ignition delay time). On the contrary, these reactions have negligible importance for high‐temperature oxidation kinetics of NH3‐alcohol blends (e.g., not affecting the laminar flame speed). In addition, we calculated the rate coefficients for NH2 + CH4 = CH3 + NH3 reaction that are in excellent agreement with the experimental data.

Lowering of Reaction Rates by Energetically Favorable Hydrogen Bonding in the Transition State. Degradation of Biofuel Ketohydroperoxides by OH.

Ketohydroperoxides (KHPs) are oxygenates with carbonyl and hydroperoxy functional groups, and they are generated under combustion and atmospheric conditions. Their fate is crucial for secondary organic aerosol formation in the troposphere and for the ignition processes of biofuels in advanced combustion engines. We investigated the thermodynamics and kinetics of nine hydrogen abstraction reactions from four ether KHPs by OH. We find that the rate constants are strongly affected by entropic effects whose estimation requires a consideration of higher-energy conformers of the transition state. A density functional was selected for these reactions by comparison to coupled cluster calculations, and it was used for calculations by multistructural canonical transition-state theory with multidimensional tunneling over the temperature range of 200-2000 K. We find that the effect of multistructural torsional anharmonicity is very large and quite different for the various ether KHP reactions. A leading cause of the structural dependence is the dominance of entropic factors due to the lack of hydrogen bonding in some of the higher-energy conformers of the transition states. Four of the reactions involve abstraction from the α-carbon (the carbon vicinal to the hydroperoxide group); they exhibit nonmonotonic temperature dependence with complex fuel-specific dependence. The rate constants for abstraction from a non-α-carbon of a given KHP can be faster than the ones for abstraction from an α-carbon; in two cases, this is due to entropy, and in one case, the non-α-carbon abstraction has a lower energy barrier. Tunneling and recrossing effects are also found to be important.

Understanding the Kinetics and Topological Events Within the Thione‐to‐Thiol Rearrangement of Xanthates

AbstractThe heating of O‐furfuryl S‐methyl xanthate in p‐xylene solvent that is known from the literature to yield in parallel S‐furfuryl S‐methyl dithiocarbonate and furfuryl methyl sulfide via the thione‐to‐thiol rearrangement and carbon oxysulfide extrusion, respectively, have been studied theoretically. The CBS‐QB3 energies in conjugation with the solvation model density and B3LYP/6‐311G(2d,d,p) monodeterminantal wave functions have been used to investigate the kinetics of the parallel reaction by means of canonical transition state theory and molecular mechanism of the thione‐to‐thiol rearrangement by means of topological approaches. According to the supplied kinetic data the considered reactions are assisted strongly by the solvent molecules implying implicit solvent model cannot account properly the effect of solvent media. The cross topological analysis of the thione‐to‐thiol rearrangement via [1,3]‐sigmatropic rearrangement revealed that the electron density flow along the reaction is not concerted and the sequence of catastrophes can be summarized as 4‐EF†C‐0. In simple chemical term, chemical events through the reaction are heterolytic breaking of C−O bond, formation of pseudoradical center on the C atom, and creation of a new chemical C−S bond via the C‐to‐S coupling of pseudoradical centers, respectively.

Atmospheric degradation, mechanism and kinetics of ethyl vinyl ketone (CH2=CHCOCH2CH3) initiated by Cl atom: an insight from DFT study

The mechanism and kinetics of the H-abstractions of ethylvinylketone (CH2=CHCOCH2CH3) with Cl atom have been carried out using density functional theory (DFT). The electronic structures and frequencies of reaction species are carried out at M06-2X/6-31+G(d,p) level. The energy calculation is performed for optimised species at the same functionality but using a 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. We characterised transition states (TSs) in each H-abstraction channel and explored reaction species along with TS involved in CH2=CHCOCH2CH3+Cl reaction on the potential energy diagram. Among the various H-abstraction channels, H-abstraction from the methylene group (–CH2–) of CH2=CHCOCH2CH3 is found to be a more dominant reaction channel which is further confirmed by thermochemical analysis. The rate constants of all H-abstraction reaction channels and overall rate constant are calculated using canonical transition state theory (TST) within the temperature range of 200–400 K. The value of the overall rate constant at 298.15 K and 1atm pressure is found to be 0.94 × 10−10 cm3 mol−1 s−1, which is in close with the experimental reported rate constant value, i.e. (2.91 ± 1.10) × 10−10 cm3 mol−1 s−1. The percentage branching ratios of each H-abstraction reaction channel, as well as the lifetime of the titled compound, are also reported herein.

Kinetic Stability of Pentazole.

The utility of high energy density materials (HEDMs) comes from their thermodynamic properties which arise from specific structural features that contribute to energy storage. Studies of such structural features seek to increase our understanding of these energy storage mechanisms in order to further enhance their properties. High-nitrogen-containing HEDMs are of particular interest because they are less toxic than traditional HEDMs. Pentazole is the largest of the nitrogen rings which has been synthesized and considered for an HEDM; however, few experimental studies exist due to the difficulty involved in the synthesis, and most previous theoretical studies employed composite methods where lower level geometries were used with higher level methods. Here, the decomposition reaction of pentazole is studied. Geometries, fundamental frequencies, and energies for each of the stationary points of the decomposition pathway are computed using ab initio methods up to CCSDT(Q). Decomposition rates are calculated over a range of temperatures using canonical transition state theory in order to determine the kinetic stability of pentazole. Based on the present results, it would be difficult for pentazole to act as an HEDM, requiring temperatures close to 200 K to achieve a suitable level of stability.

High-Pressure-Limit and Pressure-Dependent Rate Rules for Unimolecular Reactions Related to Hydroperoxy Alkyl Radicals in Normal-Alkyl Cyclohexane Combustion. 2. Cyclization Reaction Class.

The hydroperoxy alkyl radicals are important intermediates in the low-temperature combustion for normal-alkyl cycloalkanes, and the cyclization reactions of hydroperoxy alkyl radicals to form cyclic ethers are responsible for a major fraction of the OH formation, which has the potential to promote ignition. In most of the previous modeling studies for normal-alkyl cycloalkane combustion, the kinetic data of the cyclization reactions in the detailed combustion mechanism were mainly taken from the analogous reactions in cyclohexane, methyl cyclohexane, and alkanes in published literature studies. In this work, the kinetics of the cyclization reaction class of hydroperoxy alkyl radicals in normal-alkyl cycloalkanes is studied, where the reaction class is divided into subclasses depending upon the ring size of the transition states, the types of the carbons on which the -OOH site is located and the types of the carbons on which the radical site is located, and the positions of the cyclization (on the alkyl side chain, on the cycle, or between the alkyl side chain and the cycle). Energy barriers and high-pressure-limit site rate constants and pressure-dependent rates for reactions in all subclasses are calculated, and rate rules for all subclasses are developed. The high-pressure-limit rate constants are determined from CBS-QB3 electronic structure calculations combined with canonical transition-state theory calculations, and pressure-dependent rate constants are calculated by using the Rice-Ramsberger-Kassel-Marcus/Master Equation theory at pressures varying from 0.01 to 100 atm. Comparisons of the rate constants for cyclization reactions of hydroperoxy alkyl cyclohexylperoxy radicals calculated in this work with the values of the corresponding reactions in some of the popular combustion mechanisms show that it is unreasonable to use the kinetic data of analogous reactions in alkanes, cyclohexanes, or smaller normal-alkyl cyclohexanes. Therefore, the accurate kinetic calculations and the construction of rate rules for normal-alkyl cycloalkanes are necessary and significant for the reliable modeling of the low-temperature combustion of normal-alkyl cyclohexanes.

High-Pressure-Limit and Pressure-Dependent Rate Rules for Unimolecular Reactions Related to Hydroperoxy Alkyl Radicals in Normal Alkyl Cyclohexane Combustion. 1. Concerted HO2 Elimination Reaction Class and β-Scission Reaction Class.

The reactions of the concerted HO2 elimination from alkyl peroxy radicals and the β-scission of the C-OOH bond from hydroperoxy alkyl radicals, which lead to the formation of olefins and HO2 radicals, are two important reaction classes that compete with the second O2 addition step of hydroperoxy alkyl radicals, which are responsible for the chain branching in the low-temperature oxidation of normal alkyl cycloalkanes. These two reaction classes are also believed to be responsible for the negative temperature coefficient behavior due to the formation of the relatively unreactive HO2 radical, which has the potential to inhibit ignition of normal alkyl cycloalkanes. In this work, the kinetics of the above two reaction classes in normal alkyl cycloalkanes are studied, where reactions in the concerted elimination class are divided into subclasses depending upon the types of carbons from which the H atom is eliminated and the positions of the reaction center (on the alkyl side chain or on the cycle), and the reactions in the β-scission reaction class are divided into subclasses depending upon the types of the carbons on which the radical is located and the positions of the reaction center. Energy barriers by using quantum chemical methods at the CBS-QB3 level, high-pressure-limit rate constants by using canonical transition state theory, and pressure-dependent rate constants at pressures from 0.01 to 100 atm by using Rice-Ramsberger-Kassel-Marcus/Master Equation theory are calculated for a representative set of reactions from methyl cyclohexane to n-butyl cyclohexane in each subclass, from which high-pressure-limit rate rules and pressure-dependent rate rules for each subclass are derived from the average rate constants of reactions within each subclass. A comparison of the rate constants for the reactions in the two reaction classes calculated in this work is made with the rate constants of the same reactions from available mechanisms published in the literature, where most of the rate constants are approximately estimated from analogous reactions in alkanes or small alkyl cyclohexanes, and it is found that a large difference may exist between them, indicating that the present work, which provides more accurate kinetic parameters and reasonable rate rules for these reaction classes, can be helpful to construct higher-accuracy mechanism models for normal alkyl cyclohexane combustion.

DFT Insight into the Kinetics and Mechanism of the OH.‐Initiated Atmospheric Oxidation of Catechol: OH. Addition and Hydrogen Abstraction Pathways

AbstractGas phase oxidation of catechol with hydroxyl radical is expected as dominant atmospheric removal process. The mechanism and kinetics of OH.‐initiated atmospheric oxidation of catechol was investigated theoretically by employing of M06‐2X/aug‐cc‐pVTZ level of theory at 300 K and 760 Torr by considering of OH. addition and H‐atom abstraction reactions. Oxidation of catechol begins with reversible formation of pre‐reactive molecular complex and its conversion to products in unimolecular manner. Fall‐off pressure expression indicated that canonical transition state theory breaks down to estimate rate constant at 760 Torr. RRKM unimolecular rates were corrected for basis set superposition error and quantum tunneling effects. RRKM bimolecular rates for OH. addition and H‐atom abstraction pathways at 300 K and 760 Torr were about 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1. The RRKM bimolecular rate for oxidation of catechol triggered by OH. at 300 K and 760 Torr was 9.45×10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 and its temperature dependence over 200–400 K can be expressed by the lnk=(2929.8/T)+(5.82×10−16), indicating that reaction rate is negatively dependent on the temperature. H‐atom abstraction from the hydroxy group at the C2 position and addition of OH. onto the C2 atom are the most favorable processes. Evolution of branching ratios demonstrate that the OH.‐initiated oxidation of catechol is not essentially selective process.

Rate Coefficient and Mechanism of the OH-Initiated Degradation of 1-Chlorobutane: Atmospheric Implications.

In this work, we investigate the degradation process of 1-chlorobutane, initiated by OH radicals, under atmospheric conditions (air pressure of 750 Torr and 296 K) from both experimental and theoretical approaches. In the first one, a relative kinetic method was used to obtain the rate coefficient for this reaction, while the products were identified for the first time (1-chloro-2-butanone, 1-chloro-2-butanol, 4-chloro-2-butanone, 3-hydroxy-butanaldehyde, and 3-chloro-2-butanol) using mass spectrometry, allowing suggesting a reaction mechanism. The theoretical calculations, for the reactive process, were computed using the BHandHLYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, and the energies for all of the stationary points were refined at the CCSD(T) level. Five conformers for 1-chlorobutane and 33 reactive channels with OH radicals were found, which were considered to calculate the thermal rate coefficient (as the sum of the site-specific rate coefficients using canonical transition state theory). The theoretical rate coefficient (1.8 × 10-12 cm3 molecule-1 s-1) is in good agreement with the experimental value (2.22 ± 0.50) × 10-12 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 determined in this work. Finally, environmental impact indexes were calculated and a discussion on the atmospheric implications due to the emissions of this compound into the troposphere was given.

The HO4H → O3 + H2O reaction catalysed by acidic, neutral and basic catalysts in the troposphere

A detailed effects of catalyst X (X = H2O, (H2O)2, NH3, NH3···H2O, H2O···NH3, HCOOH and H2SO4) on the HO4H → O3 + H2O reaction have been investigated by using quantum chemical calculations and canonical vibrational transition state theory with small curvature tunnelling. The calculated results show that (H2O)2-catalysed reactions much faster than H2O-catalysed one because of the former bimolecular rate constant larger by 2.6–25.9 times than that of the latter one. In addition, the basic H2O···NH3 catalyst was found to be a better than the neutral catalyst of (H2O)2. However it is marginally less efficient than the acidic catalysts of HCOOH, and H2SO4. The effective rate constant (k't) in the presence of catalyst X have been assessed. It was found from k't that H2O (at 100% RH) completely dominates over all other catalysts within the temperature range of 280–320 K at 0 km altitude. However, compared with the rate constant of HO4H → H2O + O3 reaction, the k eff values for H2O catalysed reaction are smaller by 1–2 orders of magnitude, indicating that the catalytic effect of H2O makes a negligible contribution to the gas phase reaction of HO4H → O3 + H2O. Highlights A detailed effects of catalyst of H2O, (H2O)2, NH3, NH3···H2O, H2O···NH3, HCOOH and H2SO4 on the HO4H → O3 + H2O reaction has been performed. From energetic viewpoint, H2SO4 exerts the strongest catalytic role in HO4H → O3 + H2O reaction as compared with the other catalysts. At 0 km altitude H2O (at 100% RH) completely dominates over all other catalysts within the temperature range of 280–320 K. HO4H → H2O + O3 reaction with H2O cannot be compete with the reaction without catalyst, due to the fact that the effective rate constants in the presence of H2O are smaller.

Selecting between two transition states by which water oxidation intermediates decay on an oxide surface

Although catalytic mechanisms on electrode surfaces have been proposed for decades, the pathways by which the product’s chemical bonds evolve from the initial charge-trapping intermediates have not been resolved. Here, we discover a reactive intermediate population with states in the middle of a semiconductor’s bandgap that reveal the dynamics of two parallel transition state pathways for their decay. After phototriggering the water oxidation reaction from the n-SrTiO3 surface, the microsecond decay of the intermediates affirms transition state theory through two distinct time constants, the primary kinetic salt and H/D kinetic isotope effects, realistic activation barrier heights and transition state theory pre-factors. Furthermore, we show that the reaction conditions can be adjusted to allow selection between the two pathways, one characterized by a labile intermediate facing the electrolyte (the oxyl), and the other by a lattice oxygen (the bridge). In summary, we experimentally isolate an important activation barrier in multi-electron transfer water oxidation and, in doing so, identify competing mechanisms for O2 evolution at surfaces. Elucidating reaction mechanisms on electrode surfaces is of utmost importance. Now, using canonical transition state theory, Cuk and colleagues show the competing pathways by which the charge-trapping intermediates of the water oxidation reaction on n-SrTiO3 decay towards the next step in the reaction.