Reactivity enhanced by under-barrier tunneling and resonances: the F+H2→HF+H reaction

Coupled 3D (J ≥ 0) Time-Dependent Wave Packet Calculation for the F + H2 Reaction on Accurate Ab Initio Multi-State Diabatic Potential Energy Surfaces

We had calculated adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs), nonadiabatic, and spin-orbit (SO) coupling terms among the lowest three electronic states (12A', 22A', and 12A″) of the F + H2 system using the multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) level of theory, and the adiabatic-to-diabatic transformation equations were solved to formulate the diabatic Hamiltonian matrix [J. Chem. Phys. 2020, 153, 174301] for the entire region of the nuclear configuration space. The accuracy of such diabatic PESs is explored by performing scattering calculations to evaluate integral cross sections (ICSs) and rate constants. The nonadiabatic and SO effects are studied by utilizing coupled 3D time-dependent wave packet formalism with zero and nonzero total angular momentum on multiple adiabatic/diabatic surfaces calculation. We depict the convergence profiles of reaction probabilities for the reactive as well as nonreactive processes on various electronic states at different collision energies with respect to total angular momentum including all helicity quantum numbers. Finally, total ICSs are calculated as functions of collision energies for the initial rovibrational state (v = 0, j = 0) of the H2 molecule along with the temperature-dependent rate coefficient, where those quantities are compared with previous theoretical and experimental results.

Accurate Calculation of Rate Constant and Isotope Effect for the F + H2 Reaction by the Coupled 3D Time-Dependent Wave Packet Method on the Newly Constructed Ab Initio Ground Potential Energy Surface

We employ coupled three-dimensional (3D) time dependent wave packet formalism in hyperspherical coordinates for reactive scattering problem on the newly constructed ab initio calculated ground adiabatic potential energy surface for the F + H₂/D₂ reaction. The convergence profiles for various reactive channels are depicted at low collision energy regimes with respect to the total angular momentum (J) quantum numbers. For two different reactant diatomic molecules (H₂ and D₂) initially at their respective ground roto-vibrational state (v = 0, j = 0), calculated state-to-state as well as total integral cross sections as a function of collision energy, temperature dependent rate constants, and the kinetic isotope effect for various reactivity profiles of F + H₂ and F + D₂ reactions are presented along with previous theoretical and experimental results.

The F + HD(v = 0, 1; j = 0, 1) reactions: stereodynamical properties of orbiting resonances

The excitation functions (reaction cross-section as a function of collision energy) of the F + HD(v = 0, 1; j = 0, 1) benchmark system have been calculated in the 0.01-6 meV collision energy interval using a time-independent hyperspherical quantum dynamics methodology. Special attention has been paid to orbiting resonances, which bring about detailed information on the three-atom interaction during the reactive encounter. The location of the resonances depends on the rovibrational state of the reactants HD(v,j), but is the same for the two product channels HF + D and DF + H, as expected for these resonances that are linked to the van der Waals well at the entrance. The resonance intensities depend both on the entrance and on the exit channels. The peak intensities for the HF + D channel are systematically larger than those for DF + H. Vibrational excitation leads to an increase of the peak intensity by more than an order of magnitude, but rotational excitation has a less drastic effect. It deceases the resonance intensity of the F + HD(v = 1) reaction, but increases somewhat that of F + HD(v = 0). Polarization of the rotational angular momentum with respect to the initial velocity reveals intrinsic directional preferences in the F + HD(v = 0, 1; j = 1) reactions that are manifested in the resonance patterns. The helicities (Ω = 0, Ω = ±1) possible for j = 1 contribute to the resonances, but that from Ω± 1 is, in general, dominant and in some cases exclusive. It corresponds to a preferential alignment of the HD internuclear axis perpendicular to the initial direction of approach and, thus, to side-on collisions. This work also shows that external preparation of the reactants, following the intrinsic preferences, would allow the enhancement or reduction of specific resonance features, and would be of great help for their eventual experimental detection.

Orbiting resonances in the F + HD (v = 0, 1) reaction at very low collision energies. A quantum dynamical study

Time-independent, fully converged, quantum dynamical calculations have been performed for the F + HD (v = 0, j = 0) and F + HD (v = 1, j = 0) reactions on an accurate potential energy surface down to collision energies of 0.01 meV. The two isotopic exit channels, HF + D and DF + H, have been investigated. The calculations reproduce satisfactorily the Feshbach resonance structures for collision energies between 10 and 40 meV, previously reported in the literature for the HF + D channel. Contrary to the results of a former literature work, vibrational excitation of HD is found to enhance reactivity in all cases down to the lowest collision energy investigated. Shape-type orbiting resonances are found for collision energies lower than 2 meV. The resonances appear as peaks in the reaction cross sections that are associated to specific values of the total angular momentum, J. In contrast with the Feshbach resonances at higher energies, the orbiting resonance structure, which is caused by the van der Waals well of the entrance channel, is identical for the HF + D and DF + H exit channels. The orbiting resonance peaks for F + HD (v = 0) are very small, but those for F + HD (v = 1) could be observed, in principle, with a combination of Raman pumping and merged beams methods.

Theoretical reaction kinetics astride the transition between moderate and deep tunneling regimes: the F + HD case

For the reaction between F and HD, giving HF + D and DF + H, the rate constants, obtained from rigorous quantum scattering calculations at temperatures ranging from 350 K down to 100 K, show deviations from the Arrhenius behavior that have been interpreted in terms of tunneling of either H or D atoms through a potential energy barrier. The interval of temperature investigated extends from above to below a crossover value Tc, a transition temperature separating the moderate and deep quantum tunneling regimes. Below Tc, the rate of the H or D exchange reaction is controlled by the prevalence of tunneling over the thermal activation mechanism. In this temperature range, Bell's early treatment of quantum tunneling, based on a semiclassical approximation for the barrier permeability, provides a reliable tool to quantitatively account for the contribution of the tunneling effect. This treatment is here applied for extracting from rate constants properties of the effective tunneling path, such as the activation barrier height and width. We show that this is a way of parametrizing the dependence of the apparent activation energy on temperature useful for both calculated and experimental rate constants in an ample interval of temperature, from above to below Tc, relevant for modelization of astrophysical and in general very low-temperature environments.

Exact quantum calculations of the kinetic isotope effect: cross sections and rate constants for the F+HD reaction and role of tunneling

In this paper we present integral cross sections (in the 5-220 meV collision energy range) and rate constants (in the 100-300 K range of temperature) for the F+HD reaction leading to HF+D and DF+H. The exact quantum reactive scattering calculations were carried out using the hyperquantization algorithm on an improved potential energy surface which incorporates the effects of open shell and fine structure of the fluorine atom in the entrance channel. The results reproduce satisfactorily molecular beam scattering experiments as well as chemical kinetics data for both the HF and DF channels. In particular, the agreement of the rate coefficients and the vibrational branching ratios with experimental measurements is improved with respect to previous studies. At thermal and subthermal energies, the rates are greatly influenced by tunneling through the reaction barrier. Therefore exchange of deuterium is shown to be penalized with respect to exchange of hydrogen, and the isotopic branching exhibits a strong dependence on translational energy. Also, it is found that rotational excitation of the reactant HD molecule enhances the production of HF and decreases the reactivity at the D end, obtaining insight on the reaction stereodynamics.

Overlapping resonances and Regge oscillations in the state-to-state integral cross sections of the F+H2 reaction

A Regge pole analysis is employed to explain the oscillatory patterns observed in numerical simulations of integral cross section for the F+H(2)(v=0,j=0)-->HF(v(')=2,j(')=0)+H reaction in the translational collision energy range 25-50 meV. In this range the integral cross section for the transition, affected by two overlapping resonances, shows nearly sinusoidal oscillations below 38 meV and a more structured oscillatory pattern at larger energies. The two types of oscillations are related to the two Regge trajectories which (pseudo) cross near the energy where the resonances are aligned. Simple estimates are given for the periods of the oscillations.

Interacting resonances in the F+H2 reaction revisited: Complex terms, Riemann surfaces, and angular distributions

We study the effect of overlapping resonances on the angular distributions of the reaction F+H2(v=0,j=0)-->HF(v=2,j=0)+H in the collision energy range from 5 to 65 meV, i.e., under the reaction barrier. Reactive scattering calculations were performed using the hyperquantization algorithm on the potential energy surface of Stark and Werner [J. Chem. Phys. 104, 6515 (1996)]. The positions of the Regge and complex energy poles are obtained by Pade reconstruction of the scattering matrix element. The Sturmian theory is invoked to relate the Regge and complex energy terms. For two interacting resonances, a two-sheet Riemann surface is contracted and inverted. The semiclassical complex angular momentum analysis is used to decompose the scattering amplitude into the direct and resonance contributions.

Quasiclassical Trajectory Study of the F + CH4 Reaction Dynamics on a Dual-Level Interpolated Potential Energy Surface

An ab initio interpolated potential energy surface (PES) for the F + CH4 reactive system has been constructed using the interpolation method of Collins and co-workers. The ab initio calculations have been performed using second-order Möller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory to build the initial PES. Scaling all correlation (SAC) methodology has been employed to improve the ab initio calculations and to construct a dual-level PES. Using this PES, a detailed quasiclassical trajectory study of integral and differential cross sections, product rovibrational populations and internal energy distributions has been carried out for the F + CH4 and F + CD4 reactions and the theoretical results have been compared with the available experimental data.

Direct evaluation of the lifetime matrix by the hyperquantization algorithm: Narrow resonances in the F+H2 reaction dynamics and their splitting for nonzero angular momentum

We propose a new method for the direct and efficient evaluation of the Felix Smith's lifetime Q matrix for reactive scattering problems. Simultaneous propagation of the solution to a set of close-coupled equations together with its energy derivative allows one to avoid common problems pertinent to the finite-difference approach. The procedure is implemented on a reactive scattering code which employs the hyperquantization algorithm and the Johnson-Manolopoulos [J. Comput. Phys. 13, 455 (1973); J. Chem. Phys 85, 6425 (1986)] propagation to obtain the complete S matrix and scattering observables. As an application of the developed formalism, we focus on the total angular momentum dependence of narrow under-barrier resonances supported by van der Waals wells of the title reaction. Using our method, we fully characterize these metastable states obtaining their positions and lifetimes from Lorentzian fits to the largest eigenvalue of the lifetime matrix. Remarkable splittings of the resonances observed at J>0 are rationalized in terms of a hyperspherical model. In order to provide an insight on the decay mechanism, the Q-matrix eigenvectors are analyzed and the dominant channels populated during the decomposition of metastable states are determined. Possible relevance of the present results to reactive scattering experiments is discussed.

Comparison of experimental time-of-flight spectra of the HF products from the F+H2 reaction with exact quantum mechanical calculations

High resolution HF product time-of-flight spectra measured for the reactive scattering of F atoms from n-H2(p-H2) molecules at collision energies between 69 and 81 meV are compared with exact coupled-channel quantum mechanical calculations based on the Stark-Werner ab initio ground state potential energy surface. Excellent agreement between the experimental and computed rotational distributions is found for the HF product vibrational states v'=1 and v'=2. For the v'=3 vibrational state the agreement, however, is less satisfactory, especially for the reaction with p-H2. The results for v'=1 and v'=2 confirm that the reaction dynamics for these product states is accurately described by the ground electronic state 1 (2)A' potential energy surface. The deviations for HF(v'=3, j' > or =2) are attributed to an enhancement of the reaction resulting from the 25% fraction of excited ((2)P(12)) fluorine atoms in the reactant beam.

Potential Energy Surface for the F(2P3/2,2P1/2) + CH4 Hydrogen Abstraction Reaction. Kinetics and Dynamics Study

A modified and recalibrated potential energy surface (PES) is reported for the gas-phase F(2P(3/2),2P(1/2)) + CH4 reaction and its deuterated analogue. This semiempirical surface is completely symmetric with respect to the permutation of the four methane hydrogen atoms and is calibrated with respect to the updated experimental and theoretical stationary point properties and experimental thermal rate constants. To take into account the two spin-orbit electronic states of the fluorine atom, two versions of the surface were constructed, the PES-SO and PES-NOSO surfaces, which differ in the choice of the zero reference level of the reactants. On both surfaces, the thermal rate constants were calculated using variational transition-state theory with semiclassical transmission coefficients over a wide temperature range, 180-500 K. While the PES-SO surface overestimates the experimental rate constants, the PES-NOSO surface shows a better agreement, reproducing the experimental variation with temperature. The influence of the tunneling factor is negligible, due to the flattening of the surface in the entrance valley, and we found a direct dependence on temperature, and therefore positive and small activation energies, in agreement with experiment. The kinetic isotope effects calculated showed good agreement with the sparse experimental data at 283 and 298 K. Finally, on the PES-NOSO surface, other dynamical features, such as the coupling between the reaction coordinate and the vibrational modes, were analyzed. It was found qualitatively that the FH stretching and the CH3 umbrella bending modes in the products appear vibrationally excited. These kinetics and dynamics results seem to indicate that a single, adiabatic PES is adequate to describe this reaction.

Lifetime of reactive scattering resonances: Q-matrix analysis and angular momentum dependence for the F+H2 reaction by the hyperquantization algorithm

We report a study on the behavior with total angular momentum J of several resonances occurring at collision energies below or slightly above the reaction barrier in the F+H2-->HF+H reaction. Resonance positions and widths are extracted from exact time-independent quantum mechanical calculations using the hyperquantization algorithm and Smith's Q-matrix formalism which exploits complete S-matrix information. The results confirm previous work but provide much greater insight. Identification of quasi-bound states responsible for the resonances based on adiabatic models for the long-range atom-molecule interactions both in the entrance and exit channels, is successful except for the feature occurring at the lowest energy, which is found to overlap with an exit-channel resonance for J approximately 7. The two features are analyzed as overlapping resonances and their excellent Lorentzian fits, with well-behaved J-dependences of positions and widths, support the interpretation of the low-energy feature as a resonance to be associated to the triatomic transition state of the reaction. Resonance role on the reactive observables (integral cross sections and angular distributions) is investigated. The mechanism leading to forward scattering in the reactive differential cross section is commented, while the effects on rate constants, as well as the sensitivity of the resonance pattern to modification of the potential energy surface, are fully discussed elsewhere.

Ab initiopotential energy surface, variational transition state theory, and quasiclassical trajectory studies of the F+CH4→HF+CH3 reaction

In this work we present a study of the F+CH(4)-->HF+CH(3) reaction (DeltaHdegrees(298 K)=-32.0 kcal mol(-1)) using different methods of the chemical reaction theory. The ground potential energy surface (PES) is characterized using several ab initio methods. Full-dimensional rate constants have been calculated employing the variational transition state theory and using directly ab initio data. A triatomic analytical representation of the ground PES was derived from ab initio points calculated at the second- and fourth-order Møller-Plesset levels with the 6-311+G(2df,2pd) basis set, assuming the CH(3) fragment to be a 15 a.m.u. pseudoatom in the fitting process. This is suggested from experiments that indicate that the methyl group is uncoupled to the reaction coordinate. A dynamics study by means of the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method and employing this analytical surface was also carried out. The experimental data available on the HF internal states distributions are reproduced by the QCT results. Very recent experimental information about the reaction stereodynamics is also borne out by our QCT calculations. Comparisons with the benchmark F+H(2) and analogous Cl+CH(4) reactions are established throughout.

Three-body problem in quantum mechanics: Hyperspherical elliptic coordinates and harmonic basis sets

Elliptic coordinates within the hyperspherical formalism for three-body problems were proposed some time ago [V. Aquilanti, S. Cavalli, and G. Grossi, J. Chem. Phys. 85, 1362 (1986)] and recently have also found application, for example, in chemical reaction theory [see O. I. Tolstikhin and H. Nakamura, J. Chem. Phys. 108, 8899 (1998)]. Here we consider their role in providing a smooth transition between the known "symmetric" and "asymmetric" parametrizations, and focus on the corresponding hyperspherical harmonics. These harmonics, which will be called hyperspherical elliptic, involve products of two associated Lame polynomials. We will provide an expansion of these new sets in a finite series of standard hyperspherical harmonics, producing a powerful tool for future applications in the field of scattering and bound-state quantum-mechanical three-body problems.

Simulation of the reactive scattering of F+D2 on a model family of potential energy surfaces with various topographies: the correlation approach

The connection between the salient features of the potential energy surface (PES) and the dynamical characteristics of the elementary collision process is studied using a correlation approach based on quasiclassical trajectory simulations. The method is demonstrated for the reaction F + D2 --> D + DF for which the scattering characteristics were calculated on a model family of PES's based on a London-Eyring-Polanyi-Sato-type five-parameter equation. The correlations between the reactive cross section and the vibrational and rotational quantum numbers and the scattering angle of the DF product, and the various parameters of the collinear and noncollinear PES's, such as the location and height of the minimal barrier and the Sato coefficients, are reported. Although usually correlations between two variables suffice, in some cases coefficients of correlation among three variables are required. The role of nonlinear parameter dependencies in computing the correlation coefficients is also considered. The correlation approach makes it possible to examine a large set of potential surfaces without intermediate human control and obtain quantitative information.