Neutral/neutral reactions without barriers: comparisons with ion/molecule systems and their possible role in the chemistry of interstellar clouds

Kinetic study of the CN + C2H6 hydrogen abstraction reaction based on an analytical potential energy surface

The temperature dependence of the thermal rate constants and kinetic isotope effects (KIE) of the CN + C2H6 gas-phase hydrogen abstraction reaction was theoretically determined within the 25-1000 K temperature range, i.e., from very low- to high-temperature regimes. Based on a recently developed full-dimensional analytical potential energy surface fitted to highly accurate explicitly correlated ab initio calculations, three different kinetic theories were used: canonical variational transition state theory (CVT), quasiclassical trajectory theory (QCT), and ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) method for the computation of rate constants. We found that the thermal rate constants obtained with the three theories show a V-shaped temperature dependence, with a pronounced minimum near 200 K, qualitatively reproducing the experimental measurements. Among the three methods used in this work, the QCT and RPMD methods have the best agreement with the experiment at low and high temperatures, respectively, while the CVT model shows the largest discrepancies. The significant increase in the rate constant at very low temperatures in this very exothermic and practically barrierless reaction could be attributed to the large value of the impact parameter, possibly ruling out the role of the tunneling effect and the intermediate complexes in the entrance channel. The theoretical H/D KIE depicted a "normal" behaviour, i.e., values greater than unity, emulating the experimental measurements and improving previous theoretical results. Finally, the discrepancies between theory and experiments were analysed as a function of several factors, such as limitations of the kinetics theories and the potential energy surface, as well as the uncertainties in the experimental measurements.

Low-temperature rate coefficients for the reaction of ethynyl radical (C2H) with benzene

The reaction of the C2H radical with benzene is studied at low temperature using a pulsed Laval nozzle apparatus. The C2H radical is prepared by 193-nm photolysis of acetylene, and the C2H concentration is monitored using CH(A2Delta) chemiluminescence from the C2H + O2 reaction. Measurements at very low photolysis energy are performed using CF3C2H as the C2H precursor to study the influence of benzene photodissociation on the rate coefficient. Rate coefficients are obtained over a temperature range between 105 and 298 K. The average rate coefficient is found to be five times greater than the estimated value presently used in the photochemical modeling of Titan's atmosphere. The reaction exhibits a slight negative temperature dependence which can be fitted to the expression k(cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1)) = 3.28(+/-1.0) x 10(-10) (T/298)(-0.18(+/-0.18)). The results show that this reaction has no barrier and may play an important role in the formation of large molecules and aerosols at low temperature. Our results are consistent with the formation of a short lifetime intermediate that decomposes to give the final products.

Strange Kinetics of the C(2)H(6) + CN Reaction Explained

In this paper, we employ state of the art quantum chemical and transition state theory methods in making a priori kinetic predictions for the abstraction reaction of CN with ethane. This reaction, which has been studied experimentally over an exceptionally broad range of temperature (25-1140 K), exhibits an unusually strong minimum in the rate constant near 200 K. The present theoretical predictions, which are based on a careful consideration of the two distinct transition state regimes, quantitatively reproduce the measured rate constant over the full range of temperature, with no adjustable parameters. At low temperatures, the rate-determining step for such radical-molecule reactions involves the formation of a weakly bound van der Waals complex. At higher temperatures, the passage over a subthreshold saddle point on the potential energy surface, related to the formation and dissolution of chemical bonds, becomes the rate-determining step. The calculations illustrate the changing importance of the two transition states with increasing temperature and also clearly demonstrate the need for including accurate treatments of both transition states. The present two transition state model is an extension of that employed in our previous work on the C2H4 + OH reaction [J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 6031]. It incorporates direct ab initio evaluations of the potential in classical phase space integral based calculations of the fully coupled anharmonic transition state partition functions for both transition states. Comparisons with more standard rigid-rotor harmonic oscillator representations for the "inner" transition state illustrate the importance of variational, anharmonic, and nonrigid effects. The effects of tunneling through the "inner" saddle point and of dynamical correlations between the two transition states are also discussed. A study of the kinetic isotope effect provides a further test for the present two transition state model.

Reaction kinetics at very low temperatures: laboratory studies and interstellar chemistry

Studies of gas-phase processes at temperatures down to 10 K have recently blossomed, largely through application of the CRESU (cinétique de réaction en ecoulement supersonique uniforme) technique. The results are of considerable relevance to the synthesis of molecules in dense interstellar clouds, demonstrating that the models developed to explain the observed molecular abundances must be expanded to include reactions between electrically neutral species. In addition, the experimental results have stimulated theoretical efforts to describe the factors that control the rates of such low-temperature reactions. In this Account, the CRESU method is described and the relevance of the results discussed.