Quantum Molecular Dynamics Study of the Reaction of O2 with HOCO

Structure and spectroscopic properties of low-lying states of the HOC(O)O radical

The HOC(O)O radical is a product of the reaction of HOCO radicals with oxygen atoms. The present study provides theoretical prediction of critical spectroscopic features of this radical that should aid in its experimental characterization. Energies, structures, rotational constants, and harmonic frequencies are presented for the ground and two low-lying excited electronic states of HOC(O)O. The energies for the Ã(2)A″←X̃(2)A' and B̃(2)A'←X̃(2)A' electronic transitions are reported. The band origin of the B̃←X̃ transition of HOC(O)O is predicted to occur in the near infrared region of the spectrum at around 1.5 eV and it is suggested to be the most promising one for observing this radical spectroscopically. The structural and spectroscopic similarities between HOC(O)O and the isoelectronic radical FC(O)O are discussed. The abundance of experimental data on the FC(O)O radical should guide the spectroscopic characterization of HOC(O)O and serve as a benchmark for the structural and spectroscopic parameters obtained from theory.

Pure rotational spectra of the CO-trans-HOCO complex

Pure rotational spectra of the CO-trans-HOCO complex have been observed by Fourier transform microwave (FTMW) and millimeter-wave FTMW double resonance spectroscopy. The complex was produced in a supersonic jet by discharging a mixture gas of CO and H(2)O diluted in Ar. The molecular constants including the fine and hyperfine coupling constants have been precisely determined. The inter-molecular distance between the CO and trans-HOCO monomers has been determined by fixing the structures of the trans-HOCO and CO monomers, where this complex has the OC···HO configuration with the C···HO angle almost linear. The C···H distance, 2.166 Å, is much shorter than those of the closed shell complexes, CO-CH(3)OH and CO-H(2)O. The Fermi contact constant of the proton for the complex was compared with that of the trans-HOCO monomer, leading to a conclusion that there is almost no induced effect for the spin density on the proton of HOCO by the complex formation.

HOCO radical chemistry

Free radicals are important species in atmospheric chemistry, combustion, plasma environments, interstellar clouds, and biochemistry. Therefore, researchers would like to understand the formation mechanism, structure, stability, reactivity, spectroscopy, and dynamics of these chemical species. However, due to the presence of one or more unpaired electrons, radicals are often very reactive and have short lifetimes, which makes it difficult to conduct experiments. The HOCO radical appears in the atmosphere as well as in combustion environments and plays an important role in the conversion of CO to CO(2). Through the interplay between theoretical and experimental investigations, researchers have only recently understood the chemical role of the HOCO radical. In this Account, we systematically describe the current state of knowledge of the HOCO radical based on recent theoretical and experimental studies. This radical's two stable conformers, trans- and cis-HOCO, have been identified by high-level ab initio calculations and experimental spectroscopy. trans-HOCO is more stable by approximately 1.8 kcal/mol. The heat of formation of HOCO (298 K) was determined to be -43.0 ± 0.5 kcal/mol, giving a potential well depth of 30.1 ± 0.5 kcal/mol relative to the asymptote of the reactants OH + CO. The HOCO radical is very reactive. In most reactions between the HOCO radical and atoms, the HOCO radical acts as a hydrogen donor to reaction partners. Generally, the hydrogen is transferred through the formation of an association intermediate, which then proceeds through a molecular elimination step to produce the reaction products. The reaction rates of HOCO with some small radicals fall in the range of 10(-11)-10(-10) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). These results clearly illustrate important features in the reactivity of the HOCO radical with other molecules.

Quantum force molecular dynamics study of the reaction of O atoms with HOCO

The reaction of HOCO with O atoms has been studied using a direct ab initio dynamics approach based on the scaling all correlation UCCD/D95(d,p) method. Ab initio calculations point to two possible reaction mechanisms for the O+HOCO-->OH+CO2 reaction. They are a direct hydrogen abstraction and an oxygen addition reaction through a short-lived HOC(O)O intermediate. The dynamics results show that only the addition mechanism is important under the conditions considered here. The lifetime of the HOC(O)O complex is predicted to be 172+/-15 fs. This is typical of a direct and fast radical-radical reaction. At room temperature, the calculated thermal rate coefficient is 1.44 x 10(-11) cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1) and its temperature dependence is rather weak. The two kinds of reactive trajectories are illustrated in detail.