A gas-phase ab initio study of the hydrolysis of HCN

Theoretical Analysis of the Catalytic Hydrolysis Mechanism of HCN over Cu-ZSM-5

HCN catalytic hydrolysis mechanism over Cu-ZSM-5 was investigated based on the density functional theory (DFT) with 6-31++g (d, p) basis set. Five paths (A, B, C, D, and E) were designed. For path A and path B, the first step is the nucleophilic attack of water molecule. Next, the hydrogen atom of H2O is transferred to the nitrogen atom first for path A, while in path B, the hydrogen atom of the HCN is first transferred to the nitrogen atom. In path C, HCN isomerizes to HNC initially, and the remaining steps are similar to that of path A. The H atom of HCN shifts to Cu-ZSM-5 initially in path D, and the H atom is transferred to N atom subsequently. The last step is the attack on water molecule. The first step for path E is similar to that of path D. The next step is the attack on water molecule, in which the H atom of water molecule shifts to N atom, and the H on Cu-ZSM-5 shifts to the N atom. Meanwhile, the H atom of oxygen atom is transferred to the N atom. The results show that path C is the most favorable path, with the lowest free energy barrier (35.45 kcal/mol). The results indicate that the Cu-ZSM-5 strongly reduces the energy barrier of HCN and isomerizes to HNC, making it an effective catalyst for HCN hydrolysis.