Potential Energy Surface For Reaction Research Articles

Anharmonic Molecular Mechanics: Ab Initio Based Morse Parametrizations for the Popular MM3 Force Field

Methodologies for creating reactive potential energy surfaces from molecular mechanics force-fields are becoming increasingly popular. To date, molecular mechanics force-fields in biochemistry and small molecule organic chemistry tend to use harmonic expressions to treat bonding stretches, which is a poor approximation in reactive and nonequilibirum molecular dynamics simulations since bonds are often displaced significantly from their equilibrium positions. For such applications there is need for a better treatment of anharmonicity. In this contribution, Morse bonding potentials have been extensively parametrized for the atom types in the MM3 force field of Allinger and co-workers using high level CCSD(T)(F12*) energies. To our knowledge this is among the first instances of a comprehensive parametrization of Morse potentials in a popular organic chemistry force field. In the context of molecular dynamics simulations, these data will: (1) facilitate the fitting of reactive potential energy surfaces using empirical valence bond approaches and (2) enable more accurate treatments of energy transfer.

Ultrafast stimulated Raman study of the complete reactive potential energy surface of a photomolecular rotor

Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy (FSRS) reports on structure and dynamics of excited states. Here we record FSRS for a photomolecular motor in its stable and metastable states, and thus map the entire excited state PES.

Detailed benchmark ab initio mapping of the potential energy surfaces of the X + C2H6 [X = F, Cl, Br, I] reactions.

We investigate three reaction pathways of the X + C2H6 [X = F, Cl, Br, I] reactions: H-abstraction, methyl-substitution, and H-substitution, with the latter two proceeding via either Walden-inversion or front-side-attack mechanisms. We report classical and adiabatic relative energies of unprecedented accuracy for the corresponding stationary points of the reaction potential energy surfaces (PESs) by augmenting the CCSD(T)-F12b/aug-cc-pVQZ energies by core-correlation, post-CCSD(T) and spin-orbit corrections. Taking these correction terms into account turns out to be essential to reach subchemical, i.e. <0.5 kcal mol-1, accuracy. Our new benchmark 0 K reaction enthalpies show excellent agreement with experimental data. Spin-orbit coupling in these open-shell systems is also monitored throughout the reaction paths and found to be non-negligible even in some transition-state geometries. Barrier heights corresponding to the different channels of the title reactions appear in the same order with increasing energy: H-abstraction, Walden-inversion methyl-substitution, Walden-inversion H-substitution, front-side-attack H-substitution and front-side-attack methyl-substitution, except for X = I where the latter two come in reverse order. Similarly, product channels follow the energy order of the corresponding barrier heights in all four cases. We find strongly reactant-like transition-state structures for the exothermic F + C2H6 reaction paths, while more and more product-like transition states are observed along with increasing endothermicity as going from Cl to I. Several entrance and exit channel minima are also identified for the studied reactions with significant spin-orbit effects for the formers.

Theoretical study on the grafting reaction of maleimide and its derivatives to polyethylene in the UV radiation cross-linking process

Theoretical investigation on the reactions of the maleimide and its derivatives in the UV radiation cross-linking of polyethylene is accomplished by density functional theory. The reaction potential energy surface information of 12 reaction channels is determined at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level. The highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps, ionization potentials, and electron affinities of the maleimide and its derivatives are obtained. The calculated results show that the maleimide and its derivatives can be grafted to polyethylene chain during the UV radiation process. In addition, the calculated results also show that the reaction energy barrier of 1,8-bismaleimidotriethylene glycol grafted to polyethylene is lower than that of N-phenylmaleimide, and 1,8-bismaleimidotriethylene glycol can be used as cross-linking agent. The bismaleimide grafted to polyethylene can also be used as space charge inhibitor. This survey for dual function additive is expected to provide reliable information for the development of UV radiation cross-linking polyethylene process and high-voltage insulation cables exceed 500 kV in real application.

Dinitrogen Coupling to a Terpyridine-Molybdenum Chromophore Is Switched on by Fermi Resonance

Summary The traditional view of a chemical change is inherently local and classical, and such a change relies on a mix of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters to control reactivity. Often, the thermodynamic stability of chemical bonds necessitates significant energy input for activation. One fundamental question is potentially transformative: can quantum mechanics enable selective bond activation? A possible approach involves strategic input of energy to reaction-specific vibrational levels. Toward this goal, our work describes the coupling of vibrational motions in a terpyridine-molybdenum complex hosting a nonreactive substrate—dinitrogen. Ultrafast coherence spectroscopies revealed a Fermi-resonance coupling mechanism connecting in-plane breathing motion of the light-harvesting terpyridines with the stretching motion of the spatially disparate dinitrogen bridge. Notably, the coupling is significantly enhanced in the photoexcited state. This Fermi resonance indicates an energy conduit that drives the two motions in sync and thereby amplifies vibrational energy exchange. Achieving selective bond activation by bridging vibrations could present a quantum-inspired design principle in synthetic chemistry.

IR Signature of Size-Selective CO2 Activation on Small Platinum Cluster Anions, Ptn - (n=4-7).

Infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy (IR-MPD) has been employed to determine the nature of CO2 binding to size-selected platinum cluster anions, Ptn - (n=4-7). Interpreted in conjunction with density functional theory simulations, the results illustrate that the degree of CO2 activation can be controlled by the size of the metal cluster, with dissociative activation observed on all clusters n≥5. Of potential practical significance, in terms of the use of CO2 as a useful C1 feedstock, CO2 is observed molecularly-bound, but highly activated, on the Pt4 - cluster. It is trapped behind a barrier on the reactive potential energy surface which prevents dissociation.

IR Signature of Size‐Selective CO2 Activation on Small Platinum Cluster Anions, Ptn− (n=4–7)

AbstractInfrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy (IR‐MPD) has been employed to determine the nature of CO2 binding to size‐selected platinum cluster anions, Ptn− (n=4–7). Interpreted in conjunction with density functional theory simulations, the results illustrate that the degree of CO2 activation can be controlled by the size of the metal cluster, with dissociative activation observed on all clusters n≥5. Of potential practical significance, in terms of the use of CO2 as a useful C1 feedstock, CO2 is observed molecularly‐bound, but highly activated, on the Pt4− cluster. It is trapped behind a barrier on the reactive potential energy surface which prevents dissociation.

Theoretical and Experimental Study on Alkaline Hydrolysis of Isopropyl Nitrate

This paper studied the alkaline hydrolysis of isopropyl nitrate by calculating and comparing its four reaction pathways. The study employed ab initio MP2/6-311+g(d,p) to reflect the geometric structure and electronic structure of stagnation point in reaction pathways. The frequencies were calculated at the same level and the IR spectra of the main reactant and products were obtained. The method of CCSD(T)/6-311++g(3df,2p)//MP2/6-311+g(d,p) was used to calculate single-point energy. The Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM) was adopted to study the solvation effect of the reaction, so that the reaction potential energy surface in standard state and solvation state was obtained. Comparison showed that with high temperature the reaction is more inclined to produce isopropanol [(CH3)2CHOH] and nitrate ion (NO–3). Meanwhile, this paper also discussed the influence of pH value on the reaction, discovering that pH changes have no great influence on the reaction pathway sequence. At level CCSD(T)/6-311++g(3df,2p), the reaction rate constant was calculated with methods of TST, CVT, CVT/ZCT and CVT/SCT. Apart from theoretical research, the experiment of KOH hydrolysis of isopropyl nitrate was carried out, and the products were extracted by ether (C4H10O) for infrared spectroscopic analysis, of which the result was consistent with theoretical calculation.

Theoretical Study on the Grafting Reaction of Maleimide to Polyethylene in the UV Radiation Cross-Linking Process.

Theoretical investigation of the reaction of graft maleimide to polyethylene in the UV radiation cross-linking process is accomplished at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level for high-voltage cable insulation materials. The reaction potential energy surface of the nine reaction channels is identified. The results show that the N,N′-ethylenedimaleimide can connect two 4-methylheptane molecules and act as the cross-linking agent. The calculated reaction potential barrier of forming 4-methylheptane radical by maleimide is higher than that of maleic anhydride. The study is expected to provide a basis for optimizing the UV radiation cross-linking polyethylene process and development more than 500 kV high-voltage cable insulation materials in practical applications.

Atmospheric Oxidation Mechanism and Kinetics of Hydrofluoroethers, CH3OCF3, CH3OCHF2, and CHF2OCH2CF3, by OH Radical: A Theoretical Study.

In the present work, the reaction mechanism of two segregated hydrofluoroethers (HFEs), CH3OCF3 (HFE-143a) and CH3OCHF2 (HFE-152a), and a nonsegregated HFE, CHF2OCH2CF3 (HFE-245fa2), with OH radical is studied using electronic structure calculations. The initial reaction between HFE and OH radical is studied by considering two (three for CHF2OCH2CF3) pathways, H-atom abstraction and C-O bond breaking, OH addition reaction and C-C bond breaking, and OH addition reaction, which leads to the formation of alkyl radical intermediate. The dominant atmospheric fate of initially formed alkyl radical intermediate is its reaction with O2. The peroxy radicals thus formed exit through the reaction with HO2 radical and NO radical resulting in the formation of products, carbonyl fluoride (COF2), trifluoromethylformate, trifluoro(hydroperoxymethoxy)methane, difluoro(hydroperoxy methoxy)methane, difluoromethylformate, 2-(difluoromethoxy)-1,1,1-trifluoro-2-hydroperoxyethane, and difluoromethyl ester. The rate constant is calculated for the initial H-atom abstraction reaction using canonical variational transition state theory with small curvature tunnelling corrections over the temperature range 272-350 K. The atmospheric lifetime and global warming potential of HFEs are obtained from the calculated reaction potential energy surface and rate constant. The results are discussed with respect to the atmospheric implications of CH3OCF3 (HFE-143a), CH3OCHF2 (HFE-152a), and CHF2OCH2CF3 (HFE-245fa2).

Nucleophilic Substitution (SN 2): Dependence on Nucleophile, Leaving Group, Central Atom, Substituents, and Solvent.

The reaction potential energy surface (PES), and thus the mechanism of bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2), depends profoundly on the nature of the nucleophile and leaving group, but also on the central, electrophilic atom, its substituents, as well as on the medium in which the reaction takes place. Here, we provide an overview of recent studies and demonstrate how changes in any one of the aforementioned factors affect the SN2 mechanism. One of the most striking effects is the transition from a double‐well to a single‐well PES when the central atom is changed from a second‐period (e. g. carbon) to a higher‐period element (e.g, silicon, germanium). Variations in nucleophilicity, leaving group ability, and bulky substituents around a second‐row element central atom can then be exploited to change the single‐well PES back into a double‐well. Reversely, these variations can also be used to produce a single‐well PES for second‐period elements, for example, a stable pentavalent carbon species.

Optically Triggered Planarization of Boryl-Substituted Phenoxazine: Another Horizon of TADF Molecules and High-Performance OLEDs.

We report the unprecedented dual properties of excited-state structural planarization and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) of 10-dimesitylboryl phenoxazine, i.e., PXZBM. Bearing a nonplanar phenoxazine moiety, PXZBM shows the lowest lying absorption onset at ∼390 nm in nonpolar solvents such as cyclohexane but reveals an anomalously large Stokes-shifted (∼14 500 cm-1) emission maximized at 595 nm. In sharp contrast, when a phenylene spacer is added between phenoxazine and dimesitylboryl moieties of PXZBM, the 10-(4-dimesitylborylphenyl)phenoxazine PXZPBM in cyclohexane reveals a much blue-shifted emission at 470 nm despite its red-shifted absorption maximized at 420 nm (cf. PXZBM). The emission of PXZBM further reveals solvent polarity dependence, being red-shifted from 595 nm in cyclohexane to 645 nm in CH2Cl2. For rationalization, the steric hindrance between phenoxazine and the dimesitylboryl unit in PXZBM caused a puckered arrangement of phenoxazine at the ground state. Upon electronic excitation, as supported by the femtosecond early relaxation dynamics, spectral-temporal evolution and energetics calculated along the reaction potential energy surfaces, the diminution of N → B electron transfer reduces π-conjugation and elongates the N-B bond length, inducing the fast phenoxazine planarization with a time constant of 890 ± 100 fs. The associated charge-transfer reaction from phenoxazine (donor) to dimesitylboryl unit (acceptor) results in a further red-shifted emission in polar solvents. In stark contrast, PXZPBM shows a planar phenoxazine and undergoes excited-state charge transfer only. Despite the distinct difference in excited-state relaxation dynamics, both PXZBM and PXZPBM exhibit efficient TADF capable of producing highly efficient orange and green organic light emitting diodes with peak efficiencies of 10.9% (30.3 cd A-1 and 18.7 lm W-1) and 22.6% (67.7 cd A-1 and 50.0 lm W-1).

Application of Clustering Algorithms to Partitioning Configuration Space in Fitting Reactive Potential Energy Surfaces.

A large number of energy points add great difficulty to construct reactive potential energy surfaces (PES). To alleviate this, exemplar-based clustering is applied to partition the configuration space into several smaller parts. The PES of each part can be constructed easily and the global PES is obtained by connecting all of the PESs of small parts. This divide and conquer strategy is first demonstrated in the fitting of PES for OH3 with Gaussian process regression (GPR) and further applied to construct PESs for CH5 and O+CH4 with artificial neural networks (NN). The accuracy of PESs is tested by fitting errors and direct comparisons with previous PESs in dynamically important regions. As for OH3 and CH5, quantum scattering calculations further validate the global accuracy of newly fitted PESs. The results suggest that partitioning the configuration space by clustering provides a simple and useful method for the construction of PESs for systems that require a large number of energy points.

Possible scenarios for SiS formation in the interstellar medium: Electronic structure calculations of the potential energy surfaces for the reactions of the SiH radical with atomic sulphur and S2

In this Letter we report on the first characterization of the reactions SiH + S and SiH + S2 by means of electronic structure calculations of the stationary points along the reactive potential energy surfaces. According to our calculations, both reactions are barrierless and can lead to the formation of SiS (a species observed in interstellar objects) for which there are no convincing formation routes in current astrochemical models. Furthermore, we have verified that SiS2 cannot be considered an interstellar reservoir of sulphur because it is easily attacked by the abundant H atoms.

Constructing High-Dimensional Neural Network Potential Energy Surfaces for Gas–Surface Scattering and Reactions

While the ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) approach to gas–surface interaction has been instrumental in exploring important issues such as energy transfer and reactivity, it is only amenable to short-time events and a limited number of trajectories because of the on-the-fly nature of the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Here, we report a high-dimensional global reactive potential energy surface (PES) constructed with high fidelity from judiciously placed DFT points, using a machine learning method; and it is orders-of-magnitude more efficient than AIMD in dynamical calculations and can be employed in various simulations without performing additional electronic structure calculations. Importantly, the surface atoms are included in such a PES, which provides a unique platform for studying energy transfer and scattering/reaction of the impinging molecule on the solid surface on an equal footing.

Full dimensional potential energy surface and low temperature dynamics of the H2CO + OH → HCO + H2O reaction.

A new method is proposed to analytically represent the potential energy surface of reactions involving polyatomic molecules capable of accurately describing long-range interactions and saddle points, needed to describe low-temperature collisions. It is based on two terms, a reactive force field term and a many-body term. The reactive force field term accurately describes the fragments, long-range interactions among them and the saddle points for reactions. The many-body term increases the desired accuracy everywhere else. This method has been applied to the OH + H2CO → H2O + HCO reaction, giving a barrier of 27.4 meV. The simulated classical rate constants with this potential are in good agreement with recent experimental results [Ocaña et al., Astrophys. J., 2017, submitted], showing an important increase at temperatures below 100 K. The reaction mechanism is analyzed in detail here, and explains the observed behavior at low energy by the formation of long-lived collision complexes, with roaming trajectories, with a capture observed for very long impact parameters, >100 a.u., determined by the long-range dipole-dipole interaction.

Computational evidence for a reaction pathway bifurcation in Sasaki-type (4 + 3)-cycloadditions.

The current report seeks to validate the existence of a post-transition state bifurcation in the Lewis acid-catalysed (4 + 3)-cycloaddition of butadiene and α-methoxy acrolein. Cycloaddition transition state (TS) structures are shown by intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) and potential energy surface (PES) scan calculations to connect directly to both (4 + 3)- and (4 + 2)-products. A second TS, a 1,2-sigmatropic shift which interconverts the products, was also located. Implicit solvent is observed to have a substantial effect of the course of the reaction, with the minimum energy path from the gas phase TS leading to (4 + 2)-product whereas the DCM solvent phase TS leads to (4 + 3)-product. On the basis of these data it is suggested that a number of previously reported (4 + 3)-cycloadditions may also possess reaction pathway bifurcations.

PH-Dependent Singlet O2 Oxidation Kinetics of Guanine and 9-Methylguanine: An Online Mass Spectrometry and Spectroscopy Study Combined with Theoretical Exploration.

We report a kinetic and mechanistic study on the title reactions, in which 1O2 was generated by the reaction of H2O2 with Cl2 and bubbled into an aqueous solution of guanine and 9-methylguanine (9MG) at different pH values. Oxidation kinetics and product branching ratios were measured using online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry coupled with absorption and emission spectrophotometry, and product structures were determined by collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry. Experiments revealed strong pH dependence of the reactions. The oxidation of guanine is noticeable only in basic solution, while the oxidation of 9MG is weak in acidic solution, increases in neutral solution, and becomes intensive in basic solution. 5-Guanidinohydantoin (Gh) and spiroiminodihydantoin (Sp) were detected as the major oxidation products of guanine and 9MG, and Sp became dominant in basic solution. A reaction intermediate was captured in mass spectra, and assigned to gem-diol on the basis of CID measurements. This intermediate served as the precursor for the formation of Gh. After taking into account solution compositions at each pH, first-order oxidation rate constants were extracted for individual species: that is, 3.2-3.6 × 107 M-1 s-1 for deprotonated guanine, and 1.2 × 106 and 4.6-4.9 × 107 M-1 s-1 for neutral and deprotonated 9MG, respectively. Guided by approximately spin-projected density-functional-theory-calculated reaction potential energy surfaces, the kinetics for the initial 1O2 addition to guanine and 9MG was evaluated using transition state theory (TST). The comparison between TST modeling and experiment confirms that 1O2 addition is rate-limiting for oxidation, which forms endoperoxide and peroxide intermediates as determined in previous measurements of the same systems in the gas phase.

Construction of reactive potential energy surfaces with Gaussian process regression: active data selection

ABSTRACTGaussian process regression (GPR) is an efficient non-parametric method for constructing multi-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PESs) for polyatomic molecules. Since not only the posterior mean but also the posterior variance can be easily calculated, GPR provides a well-established model for active learning, through which PESs can be constructed more efficiently and accurately. We propose a strategy of active data selection for the construction of PESs with emphasis on low energy regions. Through three-dimensional (3D) example of H3, the validity of this strategy is verified. The PESs for two prototypically reactive systems, namely, H + H2O ↔ H2 + OH reaction and H + CH4 ↔ H2 + CH3 reaction are reconstructed. Only 920 and 4000 points are assembled to reconstruct these two PESs respectively. The accuracy of the GP PESs is not only tested by energy errors but also validated by quantum scattering calculations.

Formation of Anionic C, N-bearing Chains in the Interstellar Medium via Reactions of H− with HCxN for Odd-valued x from 1 to 7

Abstract We investigate the relative efficiencies of low-temperature chemical reactions in the interstellar medium with H− anion reacting in the gas phase with cyanopolyyne neutral molecules, leading to the formation of anionic linear chains of different lengths and of H2. All the reactions turn out to be without barriers, highly exothermic reactions that provide a chemical route to the formation of anionic chains of the same length. Some of the anions have been observed in the dark molecular clouds and in the diffuse interstellar envelopes. Quantum calculations are carried out for the corresponding reactive potential energy surfaces for all the odd-numbered members of the series (x = 1, 3, 5, 7). We employ the minimum energy paths to obtain the relevant transition state configurations and use the latter within the variational transition state model to obtain the chemical rates. The present results indicate that at typical temperatures around 100 K, a set of significantly larger rate values exists for x = 3 and x = 5, while the rate values are smaller for CN− and . At those temperatures, however, all the rates turn out to be larger than the estimates in the current literature for the radiative electron attachment (REA) rates, thus indicating the greater importance of the present chemical path with respect to REA processes at those temperatures. The physical reasons for our findings are discussed in detail and linked with the existing observational findings.