On the method and results of calculation of vibrational tetrahedral sub-level energies and resonance interactions in vibrational spectra of high symmetry molecules: CH4 and GeH4 as an application of the XY4 (Td) molecule

We report here the analytical description of one of the important problems in the study of XY₄ (T_d) molecules, namely, description of vibrational tetrahedral sub-level structures and resonance interactions caused by the high symmetry of a molecule. The results obtained are applied to description of the vibrational energy spectrum of the CH₄ and GeH₄ molecules.

Ab Initio Thermochemistry of the Hydrogenation of Hydrocarbon Radicals Using Silicon-, Germanium-, Tin-, and Lead-Substituted Methane and Isobutane

A series of reactions of the type Y. + XH(4) --> YH + .XH(3) and Y'. + HX(CH(3))(3) --> Y'H + .X(CH(3))(3), where Y = H, CH(3); Y' = CH(3), C(CH(3))(3); and X = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb are studied using state-of-the-art ab initio electronic structure methods. Second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory; the coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples method; and density functional theory are used with correlation-consistent basis sets (cc-pVNZ, where N = D, T, Q) and their pseudopotential analogs (cc-pVNZ-PP) to determine the transition-state geometries, activation barriers, and thermodynamic properties of these reactions. Trends in the barrier heights as a function of the group IVA atom (Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb) are examined. With respect to kinetics and thermodynamics, the use of a hydrogen attached to a group IVA element as a possible hydrogen donation tool in the mechanosynthesis of diamondoids appears feasible.

Direct ab initio dynamics study on the rate constants and kinetic isotope effect for the reactions of H atoms with GeDn(CH3)4-n (n = 1-4)

Direct ab initio dynamic calculations are performed on the reactions of atomic hydrogen with GeD(n)(CH(3))(4-n) (n = 1-4) over the temperature range 200-2000 K at the PMP4SDTQ/6-311 +G(3df,2p)//MP2/6-31 +G(d) (for n = 2-4) and G2//MP2/6-31 +G(d) (for n = 1) levels. The corresponding k(H)/k(D) ratios are then calculated in order to determine the kinetic isotope effect for the four reactions. For the simplest GeD(4) +H reaction, the only one that has available experimental data, the calculated canonical variational transition state theory incorporates small-curvature tunneling correction (CVT/SCT) thermal rate constants, and the k(H)/k(D) values are in good agreement with the experimental values within the experimental temperature range 293-550 K. For the four GeD(n)(CH(3))(4-4) (n = 1-4) reactions, the variational effect is small over the whole temperature range, whereas the small-curvature effect is important in the lower temperature range. Finally, the overall rate constants are fitted to the three-parameter expression over the whole temperature range 200-2000 K as 5.8 x 10(8)T(1.68)exp(-929/T), 1.7 x 10(8)T(1.80)exp(-691/T), 2.58 x 10(8)T(1.71)exp(-706/T), and 1.0 x 10(7)T(2.08)exp(-544/T) cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1) for the n = 4, 3, 2, and 1 reactions. Our work may represent the first theoretical study of the kinetic isotope effect for the H-attack on the G-H bonding.