Ground Spin-orbit State Research Articles

Understanding the Magnetic Relaxation Mechanism in Mixed-Valence Dilanthanide Complexes with Metal-Metal Bonding: A Theoretical Investigation.

Theoretical investigations on mixed-valence dilanthanide complexes (CpiPr5)2Ln2I3 (Ln = Tb, Dy, and Ho) indicate that the total spin of the 4f shell couples preferentially to the σ electron spin and then to the orbital angular momentum, improving the strength of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) for each magnetic center. On the other hand, the concentration of negative charges containing the delocalized σ electron in the axial direction leads to a large crystal-field (CF) splitting. Both strong SOC and large CF splitting lead to the largest energy barrier Ueff of such complexes up to now. In addition, our calculations show that the introduction of σ electron can better suppress the quantum tunneling of magnetization in the ground spin-orbit state, and the Ueff of (CpiPr5)2Ln2I3 is expected to originate from the contribution of both Ln ions under such strong Ln-σ exchange coupling.

Jahn-Teller effect versus spin-orbit coupling: The structure of the free molybdenum pentafluoride molecule

The complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and multiconfigurational quasi-degenerate second-order perturbation (MCQDPT2) calculations have been used to study the ground and low-lying excited electronic states of MoF5. Scalar-relativistic effects and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) have been taken into account employing the third-order Douglas-Kroll-Hess (DKH) Hamiltonian and full Breit-Pauli operator, respectively. The optimization and the calculation of the Hessian matrix have been performed by non-routine procedure employing the symmetry coordinates for all considered (D3h, C2v and C4v) geometrical configurations. The trigonal bipyramidal D3h structure of molybdenum pentafluoride MoF5 possesses two-fold degenerate ground first excited electronic orbital state and undergoes Jahn-Teller distortion to the C2v configurations. Accounting of SOC quenches the JT effect. As a result the D3h structure of MoF5 is no longer the conical intersection of two adiabatic potential energy surfaces (APES) but two separated APES corresponding to ground (12E1/2) and nearest excited (12E3/2) spin-orbit states are appeared instead. The D3h trigonal bipyramidal structure in the ground spin-orbit state corresponds to the 2-nd order saddle point on APES and lies above the minima (C2v structure, 12E1/2 state) by 244 cm−1. The warping barrier (another C2v structure) in the trough of APES and the Berry pseudorotation barrier (C4v structure, ground spin-orbit state 2E3/2) are 19 and 310 cm−1, respectively. Therefore MoF5 molecule is characterized in the gas phase by a large-amplitude motion of fluorine atoms in the equatorial plane and non-rigid intramolecular rearrangement by Berry mechanism. Despite such non-rigid nuclei dynamic, the calculated harmonic frequencies of MoF5 molecule do not contradict to available experimental IR spectrum. The repeat refinement of MoF5 gas electron diffraction data has been carried out using static and pseudoconformer models based on the SO-MCQDPT2 results. Corresponding to only extreme points on APES the configurations have been included into the pseudoconformer model. The both models have been fitted to the experimental data by the same quality.

Quantum statistical study of the C+ + OH → CO + H+/CO+ + H reaction: Reaction rate and product branching ratio at interstellar temperatures

The C+ + OH reaction is an important process in the interstellar synthesis of the CO molecule and the CO+ ion. This reaction has two possible chemical outcomes, namely, formation of CO + H+ and CO+ + H products. Formation of CO + H+ occurs on the ground 11A′ potential energy surface (PES), while CO+ + H can be formed on the 13A′ and 21A′ PESs. The stationary points on these three PESs have been found in explicitly correlated internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (icMRCI-F12a+Q) calculations. The entrance channel on the 11A′ PES is barrierless, and the barriers on the 13A′ and 21A′ PESs are submerged so that the reaction to form both sets of products can occur at interstellar temperatures. The quantum statistical method of Manolopoulos and co-workers was employed with the three PESs in the reactant channel to compute the total reaction cross section and rate coefficient, as well as the product branching ratio, as a function of temperature. These PESs can be adiabatically accessed by the ground spin-orbit state, C+(2P1/2), and the rate coefficient for the reaction of this state was estimated by invoking the adiabatic approximation.

Quantum Behavior of Spin-Orbit Inelastic Scattering of C-Atoms by D2 at Low Energy.

Fine-structure populations and collision–induced energy transfer in atoms are of interest for many fields, from combustion to astrophysics. In particular, neutral carbon atoms are known to play a role in interstellar media, either as probes of physical conditions (ground state 3Pj spin-orbit populations), or as cooling agent (collisional excitation followed by radiative decay). This work aims at investigating the spin-orbit excitation of atomic carbon in its ground electronic state due to collisions with molecular deuterium, an isotopic variant of H2, the most abundant molecule in the interstellar medium. Spin-orbit excitations of C(3Pj) by H2 or D2 are governed by non-adiabatic and spin-orbit couplings, which make the theoretical treatment challenging, since the Born-Oppenheimer approximation no longer holds. Inelastic collisional cross-sections were determined for the C(3P0) + D2 → C(3Pj) + D2 (with j = 1 and 2) excitation process. Experimental data were acquired in a crossed beam experiment at low collision energies, down to the excitation thresholds (at 16.42 and 43.41 cm−1, respectively). C-atoms were produced mainly in their ground spin-orbit state, 3P0, by dissociation of CO in a dielectric discharge through an Even-Lavie pulsed valve. The C-atom beam was crossed with a D2 beam from a second valve. The state-to-state cross-sections were derived from the C(3Pj) (j = 1 or 2) signal measured as a function of the beam crossing angle, i.e., as a function of the collision energy. The results show different quantum behaviors for excitation to C(3P1) or C(3P2) when C(3P0) collides with ortho-D2 or normal-D2. These experimental results are analyzed and discussed in the light of highly accurate quantum calculations. A good agreement between experimental and theoretical results is found. The present data are compared with those obtained for the C-He and C-H2 collisional systems to get new insights into the dynamics of collision induced spin-orbit excitation/relaxation of atomic carbon.

Spin-orbital-lattice entangled states in cubic d1 double perovskites

The interplay of spin-orbit coupling and vibronic coupling on the heavy ${d}^{1}$ site of cubic double perovskites is investigated by ab initio calculations. The stabilization energy of spin-orbital-lattice entangled states is found to be comparable to or larger than the exchange interactions, suggesting the presence of Jahn-Teller dynamics in the systems. In ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{YMoO}}_{6}$, the pseudo-Jahn-Teller coupling enhances the mixing of the ground and excited spin-orbit multiplet states, which results in strong temperature dependence of effective magnetic moments. The entanglement of the spin and lattice degrees of freedom induces a strong magnetoelastic response. This multiferroic effect is at the origin of the recently reported breaking of local point symmetry accompanying the development of magnetic ordering in ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{NaOsO}}_{6}$.

Ultraviolet photochemistry of 2-bromothiophene explored using universal ionization detection and multi-mass velocity-map imaging with a PImMS2 sensor.

The ultraviolet photochemistry of 2-bromothiophene (C4H3SBr) has been studied across the wavelength range 265-245 nm using a velocity-map imaging (VMI) apparatus recently modified for multi-mass imaging and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV, 118.2 nm) universal ionization. At all wavelengths, molecular products arising from the loss of atomic bromine were found to exhibit recoil velocities and anisotropies consistent with those reported elsewhere for the Br fragment [J. Chem. Phys. 142, 224303 (2015)]. Comparison between the momentum distributions of the Br and C4H3S fragments suggests that bromine is formed primarily in its ground (2P3/2) spin-orbit state. These distributions match well at high momentum, but relatively fewer slow moving molecular fragments were detected. This is explained by the observation of a second substantial ionic product, C3H3+. Analysis of ion images recorded simultaneously for several ion masses and the results of high-level ab initio calculations suggest that this fragment ion arises from dissociative ionization (by the VUV probe laser) of the most internally excited C4H3S fragments. This study provides an excellent benchmark for the recently modified VMI instrumentation and offers a powerful demonstration of the emerging field of multi-mass VMI using event-triggered, high frame-rate sensors, and universal ionization.

Quantum state-resolved molecular scattering of NO (2Π1/2) at the gas-[Cnmim][Tf2N] room temperature ionic liquid interface: Dependence on alkyl chain length, collision energy, and temperature

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) represent a promising class of chemically tunable, low vapor pressure solvents with myriad kinetic applications that depend sensitively on the nature of gas-molecule interactions at the liquid surface. This paper reports on rovibronically inelastic dynamics at the gas-RTIL interface, colliding supersonically cooled hyperthermal molecular beams of NO (Π1/22, N = 0) from 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (or [Cnmim][Tf2N]) and probing the scattered NO molecules via laser induced fluorescence (LIF) from the A(2Σ) state. Specifically, inelastic energy transfer into NO rovibrational and electronic degrees of freedom is explored as a function of RTIL alkyl chain length (n), incident collision energy (Einc) and surface temperature (Ts). At low collision energies (Einc = 2.7(9) kcal/mol), the scattered NO molecules exhibit a rotational temperature (Trot) systematically colder than Ts for all chain lengths, which signals the presence of non-equilibrium dynamics in the desorption channel. At high collision energies (Einc = 20(2) kcal/mol), microscopic branching into trapping/desorption (TD) and impulsive scattering (IS) pathways is clearly evident, with the TD fraction (α) exhibiting a step-like increase between short (n = 2, 4) and long (n = 8, 12, 16) alkyl chains consistent with theoretical predictions. For all hydrocarbon chain lengths and RTIL temperature conditions, NO rotational excitation in the IS channel yields hyperthermal albeit Boltzmann-like distributions well described by a “temperature” (TIS = 900 -1200 K) that decreases systematically with increasing n. Non-adiabatic, collision induced hopping between ground and excited spin-orbit states is found to be independent of RTIL alkyl chain length and yet increase with collision energy. The scattering data confirm previous experimental reports of an enhanced presence of the alkyl tail at the gas-RTIL interface with increasing n, as well as provide support for theoretical predictions of an alkyl length dependent shift between chains oriented parallel vs. perpendicular to the surface normal.

Synthesis and structures of plutonyl nitrate complexes: is plutonium heptavalent in PuO3(NO3)2(-) ?

Gas-phase plutonium nitrate anion complexes were produced by electrospray ionization (ESI) of a plutonium nitrate solution. The ESI mass spectrum included species with all four of the common oxidation states of plutonium: Pu(III), Pu(IV), Pu(V), and Pu(VI). Plutonium nitrate complexes were isolated in a quadrupole ion trap and subjected to collision-induced dissociation (CID). CID of complexes of the general formula PuOx(NO3)y(-) resulted in the elimination of NO2 to produce PuOx+1(NO3)y-1(-), which in most cases corresponds to an increase in the oxidation state of plutonium. Plutonyl species, Pu(V)O2(NO3)2(-) and Pu(VI)O2(NO3)3(-), were produced from Pu(III)(NO3)4(-) and Pu(IV)(NO3)5(-), respectively, by the elimination of two NO2 molecules. CID of Pu(VI)O2(NO3)3(-) resulted in NO2 elimination to yield PuO3(NO3)2(-), in which the oxidation state of plutonium could be VII, a known oxidation state in condensed phase but not yet in the gas phase. Density functional theory confirmed the nature of Pu(V)O2(NO3)2(-) and Pu(VI)O2(NO3)3(-) as plutonyl(V/VI) cores coordinated by bidentate equatorial nitrate ligands. The computed structure of PuO3(NO3)2(-) is essentially a plutonyl(VI) core, Pu(VI)O2(2+), coordinated in the equatorial plane by two nitrate ligands and one radical oxygen atom. The computations indicate that in the ground spin-orbit free state of PuO3(NO3)2(-), the unpaired electron of the oxygen atom is antiferromagnetically coupled to the spin-triplet state of the plutonyl core. The results indicate that Pu(VII) is not a readily accessible oxidation state in the gas phase, despite that it is stable in solution and solids, but rather that a Pu(VI)-O· bonding configuration is favored, in which an oxygen radical is involved.

The photodissociation dynamics of tetrachloroethylene

We present a direct current slice imaging study of tetrachloroethylene (C(2)Cl(4)) photodissociation, probing the resulting ground state Cl ((2)P(3/2)) and spin-orbit excited state Cl* ((2)P(1/2)) products. We report photofragment images, total translational energy distributions and the product branching ratio of Cl*/Cl following dissociation at 235 and 202 nm, obtained using a two-color reduced-Doppler dissociation/probe. Near 235 nm, the Cl translational energy distribution shows a peak at the limit of the available energy, indicating a direct dissociation through a σ*(C-Cl) ← π (C=C) transition, which is superimposed on a broader underlying distribution. The ground state Cl image and associated translational energy distribution at 202 nm is broad and peaked at lower energy, suggesting either internal conversion to the ground state or a lower excited state prior to dissociation. The Cl* images are similarly broad at both wavelengths. The branching ratio is presented as a function of recoil energy, but after integration shows a near-statistical average of Cl:Cl* as 70:30 at both wavelengths. All the images are largely isotropic, with anisotropy parameters (β) of 0.05 ± 0.03.

Time-dependent wavepacket investigation of state-to-state reactive scattering of Cl with para-H2 including the open-shell character of the Cl atom

We describe a time-dependent wavepacket based method for the calculation of the state-to-state cross sections for the Cl+H(2) reaction including all couplings arising from the nonzero spin and electronic orbital angular momenta of the Cl atom. Reactant-product decoupling allows us to use a physically correct basis in both the reactant and the product arrangements. Our calculated results agree well with the experimental results of Yang and co-workers. We also describe a model with two coupled potential energy surfaces, which includes the spin-orbit coupling, which is responsible for the largest non-Born-Oppenheimer effects in the Cl+H(2) reaction but neglects the off-diagonal electronically diabatic coupling and all Coriolis couplings due to the electronic spin and orbital angular momenta. The comparison of the results of the full six-state and two-state models with an electronically adiabatic (one-state) description reveals that the latter describes well the reaction out of the ground spin-orbit state, while the two-state model, which is computationally much faster than the full six-state model, describes well the reaction from both the ground and excited spin-orbit states.

Bound states of the OH(Π2)–HCl complex on ab initio diabatic potentials

The bound states of the open-shell OH((2)Pi)-HCl complex were calculated in four dimensions with a diabatic model using electronic states that correlate asymptotically with the ground and excited spin-orbit states of the OH((2)Pi) fragment and the ground state of the HCl fragment. The ab initio diabatic potentials and their analytic expansion applied in these calculations were obtained earlier by Wormer et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 244325 (2005)]. In addition to the four-dimensional calculations, we considered a (3+1)-dimensional model in which the intermolecular distance coordinate R is adiabatically separated from the remaining coordinates. Both models include the important spin-orbit coupling in the OH fragment. Energy levels and parity splittings were computed for a total angular momentum of J=1/2 and 3/2; rotational constants and other spectroscopic parameters were extracted from these calculations. The vibrationally averaged geometry in the ground state of the complex is planar and this state is more or less localized near the minimum in the lowest adiabatic potential with binding energy D(e)=1123 cm(-1); the dissociation energy D(0) with respect to OH((2)Pi(3/2)) and HCl is found to be 685 cm(-1). The splitting between the (2)Pi(3/2) and (2)Pi(1/2) spin-orbit states of free OH is largely reduced by the anisotropic interaction with HCl through the off-diagonal diabatic coupling potential and these states are strongly mixed. Low lying rovibronic states that correlate with the OH((2)Pi(3/2)) ground state were found at 14 cm(-1) for total angular momentum projection quantum number |Omega|=3/2 and 26 cm(-1) for |Omega|=1/2, relative to the ground state with |Omega|=1/2. The OH-HCl stretch fundamental frequency equals to 93.6 cm(-1), the lowest bend excited states (involving a coupled bend motion of both fragments) were found in the region of 150-160 cm(-1) above the ground state. Especially in the excited states important nonadiabatic effects are observed that involve both of the asymptotically degenerate adiabatic electronic states. In some of these excited states the vibrationally averaged geometry is nonplanar.

Product vibrational distributions in CH 3Br photodissociation

We performed a theoretical study of the photodissociation dynamics of CH 3Br in the A ∼ band using a wavepacket propagation technique on coupled ab initio potential energy surfaces corresponding to the 3Q 1 and 1Q 1 states correlated at large distance with the Br ground spin–orbit state, as well as the 3Q 0 and 4E states correlated to the excited one. The methyl umbrella vibrational product state distributions are found in very good agreement with experimental results. They are hotter for Br than for Br ∗, and this is related to the shapes of the 3Q 0 and 1Q 1 potentials.

Evidence for excited spin-orbit state reaction dynamics in F+H2: Theory and experiment

We describe fully quantum, time-independent scattering calculations of the F+H2-->HF+H reaction, concentrating on the HF product rotational distributions in v'=3. The calculations involved two new sets of ab initio potential energy surfaces, based on large basis set, multireference configuration-interaction calculations, which are further scaled to reproduce the experimental exoergicity of the reaction. In addition, the spin-orbit, Coriolis, and electrostatic couplings between the three quasidiabatic F+H2 electronic states are included. The calculated integral cross sections are compared with the results of molecular beam experiments. At low collision energies, a significant fraction of the reaction is due to Born-Oppenheimer forbidden, but energetically allowed reaction of F in its excited (2P 1/2) spin-orbit state. As the collision energy increases, the Born-Oppenheimer allowed reaction of F in its ground (2P 3/2) spin-orbit state rapidly dominates. Overall, the calculations agree reasonably well with the experiment, although there remains some disagreement with respect to the degree of rotational excitation of the HF(v'=3) products as well as with the energy dependence of the reactive cross sections at the lowest collision energies.

New ab initio potential energy surfaces for the F+H2 reaction

We present the results of new ab initio calculations of the three FH2 potential energy surfaces (PESs) which are necessary for a complete description of the F+H2 reaction. These are the result of high-precision multireference configuration-interaction calculations, with an additional scaling of the external correlation energy. The results of these calculations have been fitted to a multiparameter form for use in subsequent quantum scattering calculations. With a scaling factor of s=1.078, the calculated exoergicity agrees nearly exactly with experimentally determined values. With a slightly reduced scaling factor of s=1.05, the fitted PESs give excellent agreement with the position and modulation depth of the F+HD-->FH+D transition state resonance observed by Skodje et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 112, 4536 (2000)]. This suggests that these new PESs can be used with confidence in the simulation of the reactivity of the ground and excited spin-orbit states of the F atom in reactions with H2.

Ab Initio Treatment of the Chemical Reaction Precursor Complex Br(2P)−HCN. 1. Adiabatic and Diabatic Potential Surfaces

The three adiabatic potential surfaces of the Br(2P)-HCN complex that correlate to the 2P ground state of the Br atom were calculated ab initio. With the aid of a geometry-dependent diabatic mixing angle, also calculated ab initio, these adiabatic potential surfaces were transformed into a set of four diabatic potential surfaces required to define the full 3 x 3 matrix of diabatic potentials. Each of these diabatic potential surfaces was expanded in terms of the appropriate spherical harmonics in the atom-linear molecule Jacobi angle theta. The dependence of the expansion coefficients on the distance R between Br and the HCN center of mass and on the CH bond length was fit to an analytic form. For HCN in its equilibrium geometry, the global minimum with De = 800.4 cm(-1) and Re = 6.908a0 corresponds to a linear Br-NCH geometry, with an electronic ground state of Sigma symmetry. A local minimum with De = 415.1 cm-1, Re = 8.730a0, and a twofold degenerate Pi ground state is found for the linear Br-HCN geometry. The binding energy, De, depends strongly on the CH bond length for the Br-HCN complex and much less strongly for the Br-NCH complex, with a longer CH bond giving stronger binding for both complexes. Spin-orbit coupling was included and diabatic states were constructed that correlate to the ground 2P3/2 and excited 2P1/2 spin-orbit states of the Br atom. For the ground spin-orbit state with electronic angular momentum j = (3/2) the minimum in the potential for projection quantum number omega = +/-(3/2) coincides with the local minimum for linear Br-HCN of the spin-free case. The minimum in the potential for projection quantum number omega = +/-(1/2) occurs for linear Br-NCH but is considerably less deep than the global minimum of the spin-free case. According to the lowest spin-orbit coupling included adiabatic potential the two linear isomers, Br-NCH and Br-HCN, are about equally stable. In the subsequent paper, we use these potentials in calculations of the rovibronic states of the Br-HCN complex.

Accurate ab initio potential for the Na+⋯I• complex

High-level ab initio calculations employing the multireference configuration interaction and coupled clusters methods with a correlation-consistent sequence of basis sets have been used to obtain accurate potential energy curves for the complex of the sodium cation with the iodine atom. Potential curves for the first two electronic Lambda-S states have very different characters: the potential for the 2pi state has a well depth of approximately 10 kcal/mol, while the 2sigma state is essentially unbound. This difference is rationalized in terms of the anisotropic interaction of the quadrupole moment of the iodine atom with the sodium cation, which is stabilizing in the case of the 2pi state and destabilizing in the case of the 2sigma state. The effects of spin-orbit coupling have been accounted for with both ab initio and semiempirical approaches, which have been found to give practically the same results. Inclusion of spin-orbit interactions does not affect the X(omega = 32) ground state, which retains its 2pi character, but it results in two omega = 12 spin-orbit states, with mixed 2sigma and 2pi characters and binding energies roughly half of that of the ground spin-orbit state. Complete basis set (CBS) extrapolations of potential curves, binding energies, and equilibrium geometries were also performed, and used to calculate a number of rovibronic parameters for the Na+...I* complex and to parameterize model potentials. The final CBS-extrapolated and zero-point vibrational energy-corrected binding energy is 10.2 kcal/mol. Applications of the present results for simulations of NaI photodissociation femtosecond spectroscopy are discussed.

Photodissociation dynamics in “hyper-rovibronic” detail: Exploring the potential of millimeter/submillimeter-wave spectroscopy in molecular reaction dynamics experiments

Over the years, many techniques for studying molecular reaction dynamics have been developed and fine-tuned to probe chemical dynamics at an ever-increasing level of detail. Unfortunately, this progress has frequently come at the price of high experimental cost and great complexity. In this regard experiments employing direct absorption have a distinct advantage in that they are comparatively simple in setup and they probe nascent product distributions directly. Even though the low product number densities in molecular-beam experiments put severe constraints on the noise and sensitivity requirements of detectors, Nesbitt and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 86, 3151 (1987); Rev. Sci. Instrum. 58, 807 (1987); J. Chem. Phys. 85, 4890 (1986); J. Chem. Phys. 107, 5661 (1997); Chem. Phys. Lett. 258, 207 (1996)] have demonstrated the use of direct infrared absorption in a variety of molecular reaction dynamics studies. In analogous experiments, this article explores the use of millimeter- and submillimeter-wavelength radiation in direct absorption experiments in a molecular beam. The comparatively simple and inexpensive setup demonstrates the utility of combining new commercial solid-state millimeter/submillimeter-wavelength sources with hot-electron bolometer detectors to directly probe parent and product hyperfine rovibronic levels and their Doppler-resolved velocity distributions in a molecular beam. For example, in open-shell products with nuclear spin, the ultrahigh energy resolution of the rotational spectroscopy easily resolves nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure and lambda doublets in both ground and excited spin-orbit states as well as in ground and excited vibrational levels. Two molecular beam examples are given: (1) detection of “hyper-rovibronic” structure in ClO (ΠΩ=3∕2,1∕22, ν=0–8, J=112–712, Λ,F) following the mode-specific photodissociation of OClO (AA22←XB12, ν1=14–15), and (2) coherent transient absorption of HCN following the 266 nm photodissociation of sym-triazine/argon clusters.

H-atom abstraction dynamics of reactions between Cl atoms and heterocyclic organic molecules

The HCl(v' = 0, J') rotational state distributions produced in the photoinitiated reactions of ground spin-orbit state Cl(2P3/2) atoms with the organic heterocycles oxirane (c-C2H4O), thiirane (c-C2H4S) and oxetane (c-C3H6O) have been measured using the technique of 2 + 1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. In contrast to previous studies of H-atom abstraction dynamics by Cl atoms with linear functionalized molecules, the nascent HCl(v' = 0, J') products of the reactions of the three-membered heterocycles oxirane and thiirane are formed rotationally cold, with mean rotational energies <Erot> of (0.28 ± 0.02) kcal mol-1 and (0.31 ± 0.02) kcal mol-1, respectively. The reaction of Cl atoms with the four-membered heterocycle oxetane, however, results in more rotationally excited HCl(v' = 0, J') products for which <Erot> = (0.78 ± 0.03) kcal mol-1. Ab initio calculations were performed at the G2//MP2/6-311G(d,p) level to characterize molecular complexes and transition states on the reactive pathways. In all cases, the reactions were calculated to be barrierless, and weakly bound pre- and post-reaction complexes were located on the potential energy surfaces. The observed distributions and calculated reaction profiles are compared with previous studies of the reactions of Cl atoms with linear functionalized organic molecules and the consequences of the constrained molecular geometry on the HCl(v' = 0, J') rotational distribution discussed in terms of the dipole-dipole interaction model proposed previously.

A Quantum Wave Packet Dynamical Study of the Electronic and Spin−Orbit Coupling Effects on the Resonances in Cl(2P) + H2 Scattering

Dynamical resonances in Cl(2P) + H2 scattering are investigated with the aid of a time-dependent wave packet approach using the Capecchi-Werner coupled ab initio potential energy surfaces [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2004, 6, 4975]. The resonances arising from the prereactive van der Waals well (approximately 0.5 kcal/mol) and the transition-state (TS) region of the 2Sigma(1/2) ground spin-orbit (SO) state of the Cl(2P) + H2 system are calculated and assigned by computing their eigenfunctions and lifetimes. The excitation of even quanta along the bending coordinate of the resonances is observed. The resonances exhibit an extended van der Waals progression, which can be attributed to the dissociative states of ClH2. Excitation of H2 vibration is also identified in the high-energy resonances. The effect of the excited 2P(1/2) SO state of Cl on these resonances is examined by considering the electronic and SO coupling in the dynamical simulations. While the electronic coupling has only a minor impact on the resonance structures, the SO coupling has significant effect on them. The nonadiabatic effect due to the SO coupling is stronger, and as a result, the spectrum becomes broad and diffuse particularly at high energies. We also report the photodetachment spectrum of ClD2- and compare the theoretical findings with the available experimental results.

Time-dependent quantum wave packet calculation for nonadiabatic F(2P3/2,2P1/2)+H2 reaction

In this paper we present a time-dependent quantum wave packet calculation for the reaction of F(2P3/2,2P1/2)+H2 on the Alexander–Stark–Werner potential energy surface. The reaction probabilities and the integral cross sections for the reaction of F(2P3/2,2P1/2)+H2 (v=j=0) are computed using time-dependent quantum methods with the centrifugal sudden approximate. The results are compared with recent time-independent quantum calculations. The two-surface reaction probability for the initial ground spin–orbit state of J=0.5 is similar to the time-independent result obtained by Alexander et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 113, 11084 (2000)]. Our calculation also shows that electronic coupling has a relatively minor effect on the reactivity from the P3/22 state but a non-negligible one from the P1/22 state. By comparison with exact time-independent calculations, it is found that the Coriolis coupling plays a relatively minor role. In addition, most of the reactivity of the excited state of fluorine atom results from the spin–orbit coupling.