Theoretical Study on the Structure of the BrO Hydrates

Impact of water on the BrO + HO2 gas-phase reaction: mechanism, kinetics and products

The BrO + HO2 reaction, which participates in the cycle of ozone removal via BrOH formation, was explored both in the absence and in the presence of water using ab initio calculations. Two main sets of products, (i) HBr + O3 and (ii) BrOH + O2, are formed regardless of the presence of water, following a hydrogen abstraction mechanism. The HBr + O3 products are formed from the intermediate BrOOOH adduct, whereas BrOH + O2 are formed either from the intermediate OBrOOH adduct or via a barrierless hydrogen transfer from HO2 to BrO. Owing to the formation of molecular oxygen that can bear different spin configurations, the formation of BrOH + O2 products was examined both on the singlet and the triplet surfaces. Under relevant atmospheric temperatures and pressure, the formation of products (i) is energetically and kinetically less favorable than that of products (ii). The rate coefficient at 298 K for the HBr + O3 formation was determined to be 2.00 × 10-20 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, and found to decrease by 1-2 orders of magnitude when one or both reactants are clustered with water. For the formation of BrOH + O2, a rate coefficient of 2.21 × 10-11 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 is determined on both singlet and triplet surfaces in the absence of water. Though this rate coefficient slightly decreases for the hydrated reactions, the fractions of the reactants that are effectively complexed with water are not high enough to shift the overall BrOH + O2 formation rate. The current study further indicates that humidity plays a negligible role in ozone removal via the BrO + HO2 reaction.

Communication: Interaction of BrO radical with the surface of water

Solvation of a BrO radical in a slab of water is investigated using adaptive buffered force quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) dynamics simulations. The simulation results show that the BrO radical exhibits preference towards the water surface with respect to the interior region of the water slab, despite BrO's high affinity to water. Another important finding is the weakening of (BrO)Br⋯O(water) interaction at the water surface due to competitive interactions between (BrO)Br⋯O(water) and (water)H⋯O(water). As such, the BrO-water slab interaction is dominated by (BrO)O⋯H(water) interaction, contrary to that in the gas phase, suggesting that the reactive site for the BrO radical at the air/water surface is more likely the Br site. The conclusion from this study can offer deeper insight into the reactivity of the BrO radical at the air/water interface, with regard to atmospheric implications.

Analytic ab initio-based molecular interaction potential for the BrO⋅H2O complex

Radical halogen oxide species play important roles within atmospheric processes, specifically those responsible for the removal of O3. To facilitate future investigations on this family of compounds, RCCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ-level electronic structure calculations were employed to generate individual-molecule optimized geometries, as well as to determine the global minimum energy structure for the BrO⋅H2O complex. This information facilitated the generation of several one-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) scans for the BrO⋅H2O complex. Scans were performed for both the ground state and the first excited state; this inclusion is due to a low-lying first electronic excited-state energy. These rigid-geometry PES scans were used both to generate a novel analytic interaction potential by modifying the existing Thole-type model used for water and to the fitted potential function. This interaction potential features anisotropic atomic polarizabilities facilitating appropriate modeling of the physics regarding the unpaired electron residing within the p-orbitals of the oxygen atom of the bromine oxide radical. The intention of this work is to facilitate future molecular dynamics simulations involving the interaction between the BrO radical and water clusters as a first step in devising possible novel chemistries taking place at the water interface of clouds within the atmosphere.

Ab initio and analytical intermolecular potential for ClO–H2O

In recent years, the ClO free radical has been found to play an important role in the ozone removal processes in the atmosphere. In this work, the authors present a potential energy surface scan of the ClO.H2O system with high-level ab initio methods. Because of the existence of low-lying excited states of the ClO.H2O complex and their potential impact on the chemical behavior of the ClO radical in the atmosphere, the authors perform the potential energy surface scan at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory of both the first excited and ground states. Analytical potentials for both ground and excited states, with the ClO and H2O units held fixed at their optimized geometries and with anisotropic atomic polarizabilities modeling the physics of the unpaired electron in the ClO radical, were built based on a Thole-type model. The two minima of the ClO.H2O complex are recovered by the analytical potential.