Theoretical study of silylene substituent effects on the abstraction reactions with oxirane and thiirane

Dynamics and kinetics of the Si(1D) + H2/D2 reactions on a new global ab initio potential energy surface

Recent studies on the exothermic complex-forming reactions have improved our understanding of complex-forming reactions greatly, however, so far a similar level of study on endothermic ones has been rather limited. In this work, the endothermic complex-forming reaction Si(1D) + H2 → SiH + H and its deuterated isotopic variant are investigated by quantum dynamics (QD) and ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) calculations on a new global ab initio potential energy surface (PES) for the ground electronic state, which is constructed based on 8996 symmetry unique points computed at the icMRCI+Q/aug-cc-pVQZ level. The PES reproduces our ab initio data very well in the dynamically important regions, on which the ro-vibrational energy levels of SiH2 are calculated and general good agreement with experiment is obtained. The integral cross sections and product angular and state distributions are computed in a wide range of collision energies, and interesting dynamics behaviors are revealed. The rate coefficients are also investigated, which display an exponential rise from 2.09 × 10-20 to 6.00 × 10-12 cm3 s-1 for the Si(1D) + H2 reaction as the temperature increases from 300 to 1500 K, in contrast to the nearly temperature-independent behavior of exothermic complex-forming reactions. In addition, the applicability of the RPMD approach is demonstrated, and the kinetic isotope effect is investigated, the ratio of which decreases from 7.89 (300 K) to 1.70 (1500 K). The effects of tunneling and initial rotational excitation are also discussed.

Ab initio conical intersections for the Si(1D) + H2 reaction system: a lowest five singlet states study

Conical intersections and geometric phase effects of the Si(¹D) + H₂ system were clarified intuitively, and important features of them are revealed.

Time-Resolved Gas-Phase Kinetic, Quantum Chemical, and RRKM Studies of the Reaction of Silylene with 2,5-Dihydrofuran

Time-resolved kinetics studies of silylene, SiH2, generated by laser flash photolysis of phenylsilane, were performed to obtain rate coefficients for its bimolecular reaction with 2,5-dihydrofuran (2,5-DHF). The reaction was studied in the gas phase over the pressure range of 1-100 Torr in SF6 bath gas, at five temperatures in the range of 296-598 K. The reaction showed pressure dependences characteristic of a third body assisted association. The second-order rate coefficients obtained by Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM)-assisted extrapolation to the high-pressure limit at each temperature fitted the following Arrhenius equation where the error limits are single standard deviations: log(k/cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)) = (-9.96 ± 0.08) + (3.38 ± 0.62 kJ mol(-1))/RT ln 10. End-product analysis revealed no GC-identifiable product. Quantum chemical (ab initio) calculations indicate that reaction of SiH2 with 2,5-DHF can occur at both the double bond (to form a silirane) and the O atom (to form a donor-acceptor, zwitterionic complex) via barrierless processes. Further possible reaction steps were explored, of which the only viable one appears to be decomposition of the O-complex to give 1,3-butadiene + silanone, although isomerization of the silirane cannot be completely ruled out. The potential energy surface for SiH2 + 2,5-DHF is consistent with that of SiH2 with Me2O, and with that of SiH2 with cis-but-2-ene, the simplest reference reactions. RRKM calculations incorporating reaction at both π- and O atom sites, can be made to fit the experimental rate coefficient pressure dependence curves at 296-476 K, giving values for k(∞)(π) and k(∞)(O) that indicate the latter is larger in magnitude at all temperatures, in contrast to values from individual model reactions. This unexpected result suggests that, in 2,5-DHF with its two different reaction sites, the O atom exerts the more pronounced electrophilic attraction on the approaching silylene. Arrhenius parameters for the individual pathways were obtained. The lack of a fit at 598 K is consistent with decomposition of the O-complex to give 1,3-butadiene + silanone.

A combined kinetic and computational study of the reactions of transient germylenes with oxiranes and thiiranes in solution

The reactions of dimethyl- and diphenylgermylene (GeMe2 and GePh2, respectively) with cyclohexene oxide (CHO) and propylene sulfide (PrS) have been studied in hydrocarbon solvents at 25 °C by laser flash and steady-state photolysis methods using appropriately substituted germacyclopent-3-ene derivatives as germylene precursors. GeMe2 reacts with CHO and PrS with rate constants in the range of 1.2–1.7 × 1010 M−1 s−1 in hexanes at 25 °C to form new transient products that are assigned to the corresponding Lewis acid-base complexes of the germylene with the substrates. The complexation reactions were found to be reversible and are characterized by equilibrium constants of KC = (3.7 ± 0.8) × 103 M−1 and (3 ± 1) × 104 M−1 for complexation of GeMe2 with CHO and PrS, respectively. The complexes decay over approximately 10 μs with the concomitant formation of tetramethyldigermene (Ge2Me4), identifiable by its characteristic UV-vis spectrum centered at λmax = 370 nm. Diphenylgermylene behaves analogously, reacting rapidly and reversibly with the two substrates to form the corresponding Lewis acid-base complexes (λmax ≈ 355 nm) that decay over several tens of microseconds with the concomitant growth of the characteristic UV-vis spectrum of tetraphenyldigermene (Ge2Ph4) (λmax = 440 nm). Steady-state photolysis of the germylene precursors in the presence of CHO afforded germanium-containing oligomers but showed no evidence of oxygen abstraction or the formation of substrate-derived product(s). Similar photolyses in the presence of PrS also afforded germanium-containing oligomers, but as well yielded propene in 20%–30% yield and (in the case of the GePh2 precursor) minor amounts of low molecular weight compounds that appear to be derived from the corresponding germanethione. Density functional theory calculations of the chalcogen abstraction reactions of GeMe2 with oxirane and thiirane in the gas phase have been carried out at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory and are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental data.

Phototransformation of Perchlorate to Chloride in the Presence of Polysilanes

Perchlorate is a uniquely stable chemical described as an emerging thyroid disrupting agent that is presently detected in several terrestrial and aquatic matrices. The present study was undertaken to deoxygenate perchlorate to the chloride anion photolytically in the presence of dodecamethylcyclohexasilane (Me2Si)6 1. It is found that photolysis of 1 in the presence of dry NaClO4 in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 254 nm leads to the disappearance of the salt. The removal of ClO4– occurred with the concurrent formation of ClO3– and ClO2–, which disappear to eventually produce the chloride anion quantitatively. The two cyclic silanes (Me2Si)5 3 and (Me2Si)4 4 in addition to several other siloxanes that include (Me2SiO)3, (Me2SiO)4, and (Me2Si)xO2 (x = 4 and 5) were also detected. When the reaction was repeated using uniformly labelled 18O-[ClO4–] it was found that oxygen incorporated in the siloxane products was derived from perchlorate. Mixing 1 with perchlorate in THF in the dark or adding the salt to 1 after the latter being photolyzed in THF did not deoxygenate ClO4–. Based on experimental evidence gathered thus far it is concluded that dimethylsilylene, Me2Si: 2, a reactive intermediate produced by the photolysis of 1, is in part responsible for the deoxygenation of perchlorate. Direct oxygen transfer from ClO4– to the silanes during photolysis is also suggested as a potential route of deoxygenating ClO4–.