Theoretical Study of the Chemiluminescence of the Al + H2O Reaction

Exploring the photochemistry of OAlOH: Photodissociation pathways and electronic spectra

This study was focused on the photochemistry of OAlOH and three possible pathways, which were studied with high-level multireference configuration interaction ab initio calculations. We computed cuts of the six-dimensional potential energy surfaces for the ground, the lowest singlet and triplet excited states, and probed the photodissociation mechanisms and the stabilities. The OAlOH electronic spectrum, with an energy reaching 7.15 eV, contained four prominent peaks. Photodissociation to AlO, OH, and AlOH constituted a plausible mechanism within the deep-UV range (λ = 250.4 nm). Our data indicated the photostability of OAlOH in the near-UV‒Vis region, so detection with laser-induced fluorescence is possible. Fluorescence and phosphorescence may occur upon excitation at 363.5 nm. The roles of OAlOH in the photochemical reactions of Al-bearing molecules in the upper atmosphere and VY Canis Majoris are discussed.

Communication: XFAIMS-eXternal Field Ab Initio Multiple Spawning for electron-nuclear dynamics triggered by short laser pulses

Attoscience is an emerging field where attosecond pulses or few cycle IR pulses are used to pump and probe the correlated electron-nuclear motion of molecules. We present the trajectory-guided eXternal Field Ab Initio Multiple Spawning (XFAIMS) method that models such experiments "on-the-fly," from laser pulse excitation to fragmentation or nonadiabatic relaxation to the ground electronic state. For the photoexcitation of the LiH molecule, we show that XFAIMS gives results in close agreement with numerically exact quantum dynamics simulations, both for atto- and femtosecond laser pulses. We then show the ability of XFAIMS to model the dynamics in polyatomic molecules by studying the effect of nuclear motion on the photoexcitation of a sulfine (H₂CSO).

Can alumina particles be formed from Al hydroxide in the circumstellar media? A first-principles chemical study

AlOH has been detected in the circumstellar envelope of an oxygen-rich supergiant star (VY CMa) and is an abundant Al-containing system. Water molecules have also been detected, even in a vibrationally excited state. The coalescence of AlOH units and other processes involving AlOH could be the source of alumina-type particles. The results indicate that the formation of (AlOH)2 dimers is barrier-free but (HAlO)2 systems are far more stable. The (AlOH)2 → (HAlO)2 transformation is hindered by substantial energy barriers but is probably moderately fast at very high temperatures. Water catalysis by relay (or Grotthuss-like) mechanisms substantially reduces those barriers to the point that, in the (AlOH)2·(H2O)2 system, the critical transition states lie clearly below 2AlOH + 2H2O. A surface or nucleation environment may favor the (AlOH)2 → (HAlO)2 conversion as to be kinetically competitive with water elimination ((AlOH)2·(H2O)n → (AlOH)2 + nH2O) in the hydrated systems. The hydrated (HAlO)2 structures can easily produce very stable hydrogenated Al2O3 and Al2O4 frames, which, to the same extent, can eliminate molecular hydrogen by exothermic processes. The remaining hydrogen atoms are exterior to the frames and perhaps could be removed by reaction with atomic hydrogen. The possible role of the coalescence of the undetected HAl(OH)2 and Al(OH)2 or AlO2H molecules is discussed. Al(OH)2 can easily be formed by reaction of AlO with a water molecule in exothermic barrier-free processes.

Tailoring the electronic properties among oxoarsine, arsinoyl and arsine oxide isomers: the simplest molecular systems with an arsenic–oxygen bond

The main goal of this investigation is to understand the reaction pathways and the electronic and spectroscopy properties of AsOH_n radicals (n = 0–3), which are some of the simplest compound models with an arsenic–oxygen bond.