Coupled-Cluster Study of the Lower Energy Region of the Ground Electronic State of the HSO2 Potential Energy Surface

Reactivity properties of the HOSO and HSO2 isomers in liquid medium: a sequential Monte Carlo/quantum mechanics study

CONTEXT

The rationalization of acid rain formation steps is fundamental for mitigating its effects. It is believed the hydroxysulfinyl radical is an intermediate species for the production of atmospheric sulfuric acid. Two stable configurations HOSO and HSO₂ have been reported for such a radical in the gas phase. This work aims at studying these isomers in the aqueous medium. The electrical and reactivity quantities - electronic chemical potential ([Formula: see text]), chemical hardness ([Formula: see text]), and electrophilicity ([Formula: see text]) - are here calculated and compared. Considering first solvation shells (15 H₂O for HSO₂ and 23 H₂O for HOSO), an increase of 25% in the dipole moment of HSO₂ was obtained, while the dipole moment of HOSO decreases in 11%. Both solvated isomers grow softer ([Formula: see text] decreases) contrasted to the gas phase.

METHODS

HOSO and HSO₂ are studied through a sequential Monte Carlo/quantum mechanics approach. Lennard-Jones plus the Coulomb potentials were used to represent intermolecular potential interaction in the frame of the DICE package. Molecular structure calculations were performed at CASPT2/aug - cc - pV(T + d)Z level of theory using the MOLPRO suite of programs.

Photochemistry and Non-adiabatic Photodynamics of the HOSO Radical

Hydroxysulfinyl radical (HOSO) is important due to its involvement in climate geoengineering upon SO₂ injection and generation of the highly hygroscopic H₂SO₄. Its photochemical behavior in the upper atmosphere is, however, uncertain. Here we present the ultraviolet-visible photochemistry and photodynamics of this species by simulating the atmospheric conditions with high-level quantum chemistry methods. Photocleavage to HO + SO arises as the major solar-induced channel, with a minor contribution of H + SO₂ photoproducts. The efficient generation of SO is relevant due to its reactivity with O₃ and the consequent depletion of ozone in the stratosphere.

An accurate full-dimensional potential energy surface for the reaction OH + SO → H + SO2

An accurate full-dimensional PES for the OH + SO ↔ H + SO₂ reaction is developed by the permutation invariant polynomial-neural network approach.

A New Mechanism of Acid Rain Generation from HOSO at the Air-Water Interface

The photochemistry of SO₂ at the air-water interface of water droplets leads to the formation of HOSO radicals. Using first-principles simulations, we show that HOSO displays an unforeseen strong acidity (pK_a = -1) comparable with that of nitric acid and is fully dissociated at the air-water interface. Accordingly, this radical might play an important role in acid rain formation. Potential implications are discussed.

Hydrogen bonding in the hydroxysulfinyl radical-formic acid-water system: A theoretical study

Quantum chemical methods have been employed to evaluate the possible configurations of the 1:1 and 1:2 HOSO-formic acid complexes and 1:1:1 HOSO-formic acid-water complexes. The first type of complex involves two H bonds, while the other two types comprise three H bonds in a ring. The complexes are relatively stable, with CBS-QB3 computed binding energies of 14.3 kcal mol(-1) , 23.4 kcal mol(-1) , and 21.1 kcal mol(-1) for the lowest-energy structures of the 1:1, 1:2, and 1:1:1 complexes, respectively. Complex formations induce a large spectral red-shift and an enhancement of the IR intensity for the H-bonded OH stretching modes relative to those in the parent monomers. TDDFT calculations of the low-lying electronic excited states demonstrate that the complexes are photochemically quite stable in the troposphere. Small spectral shifts in comparison to the free HOSO radical suggest that the radical and the complexes would not be easily distinguishable using standard UV/vis absorption spectroscopy. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.