The lowest doublet and quartet potential energy surfaces involved in the N(4S)+O2 reaction. II. Ab initio study of the C2v-symmetry insertion mechanism

Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Hyperthermal N + O2 Collisions

The dynamics of hyperthermal N(4S) + O2 collisions were investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Crossed molecular beams experiments were performed at an average center-of-mass (c.m.) collision energy of ⟨Ecoll⟩ = 77.5 kcal mol-1, with velocity- and angle-resolved product detection by a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. Nonreactive (N + O2) and reactive (NO + O) product channels were identified. In the c.m. reference frame, the nonreactively scattered N atoms and reactively scattered NO molecules were both directed into the forward direction with respect to the initial direction of the reagent N atoms. On average, more than 90% of the available energy (⟨Eavl⟩ = 77.5 kcal mol-1) was retained in translation of the nonreactive products (N + O2), whereas a much smaller fraction of the available energy for the reactive pathway (⟨Eavl⟩ = 109.5 kcal mol-1) went into translation of the NO + O products, and the distribution of translational energies for this channel was broad, indicating extensive internal excitation in the nascent NO molecules. The experimentally derived c.m. translational energy and angular distributions of the reactive products suggested at least two dynamical pathways to the formation of NO + O. Quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) calculations were performed with a collision energy of Ecoll = 77 kcal mol-1 using two sets of potential energy surfaces, denoted as PES-I and PES-II, and these theoretical results were compared to each other and to the experimental results. PES-I is a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) representation of multireference configurational interaction (MRCI) energies, while PES-II is a many-body permutation invariant polynomial (MB-PIP) fit of complete active space second order perturbation (CASPT2) points. The theoretical investigations were both consistent with the experimental suggestion of two dynamical pathways to produce NO + O, where reactive collisions may proceed on the doublet (12A') and quartet (14A') surfaces. When analyzed with this theoretical insight, the experimental c.m. translational energy and angular distributions were in reasonably good agreement with those predicted by the QCT calculations, although minor differences were observed which are discussed. Theoretical translational energy and angular distributions for the nonreactive N + O2 products matched the experimental translational energy and angular distributions almost quantitatively. Finally, relative yields for the nonreactive and reactive scattering channels were determined from the experiment and from both theoretical methods, and all results are in reasonable agreement.

Formation of N(2D) from Hyperthermal Collisions between O(3P) and NO(X2Π)

Hyperthermal collisions between O(3P) and NO(X2Π) could lead to the formation of the first electronically excited atomic nitrogen (N(2D)), which plays a key role in plasma formation in shock-heated air. This process is facilitated mainly by four doublet states, and to a much lesser extent by two quartet states. In this work, we report quasi-classical trajectory studies of this reactive process using the four analytical adiabatic potential energy surfaces for the doublet states developed previously from fitting high-level ab initio data. The reactions were found to be strongly enhanced by vibrational excitation of the NO reactant, consistent with the existence of potential energy barriers in the exit channel. Despite the large endothermicity of the reaction, the rate coefficient is significant at high temperatures, suggesting a possible role of this reaction in the hyperthermal kinetics in the shock layer of a hypersonic (re)entry vehicle.

Ultrafast imaging of laser-controlled non-adiabatic dynamics in NO2 from time-resolved photoelectron emission

Imaging and controlling the ultrafast conical intersection dynamics in NO₂ using the latest advances in attosecond and light-synthesizer technology.

Quantum mechanical investigations of the N(S4)+O2(XΣg−3)→NO(XΠ2)+O(P3) reaction

The reaction between energetic nitrogen atoms and oxygen molecules has received important attention in connection with nitric oxide chemistry in the lower thermosphere. We report time-independent quantum mechanical calculations of the N(4S)+O2-->NO+O reaction employing the X 2A' and a 4A' electronic potential energy surfaces of Sayos et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 117, 670 (2002)]. We confirm the production of highly vibrationally excited NO molecules, consistent with previous semiclassical and more recent time-dependent quantum wave packet studies. Calculations are carried out for total angular momentum quantum number J=0 and cross sections and rate coefficients are extracted using the J-shifting approximation. The results are in good agreement with available experimental and theoretical data.

A quasiclassical trajectory study for the N(4S)+O2(X 3Sigmag-)-->NO(X 2Pi)+O(3P) reaction on the new 2A' and 4A' potential-energy surfaces

A quasiclassical trajectory study with the sixth-order explicit symplectic algorithm of the N(4S)+O2(X 3Sigmag-)-->NO(X 2Pi)+O(3P) atmospheric reaction has been performed by employing the new 2A' and 4A' potential-energy surfaces reported by Sayos et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 117, 670 (2002)]. For the translational temperature considered up to 10,000 K, the larger relative translational energy and the higher rovibrational levels of O2 molecule with respect to the previous works have been taken into account, and a clearer database about the character of the total reaction cross section has been presented in this work. The dependence of microscopic rate constants on the vibrational level of O2 molecule at T=3000, 5000, and 10,000 K has been exhibited, and we can see that the values of log10 k(T,v,J) vary almost linearly with the vibrational level of O2 molecule. The thermal rate constants at the translational temperature between 300 and 10,000 K have been evaluated and compared with the experimental and previous theoretical results. It is found that the thermal rate constants determined in this work have a better agreement with the experimental data and can provide a more valid theoretical reference at the translational temperature considered for the title reaction.