Potential energy curves for the dissociation of the Rydberg NH4 radical into (NH2+H2)

On the feasibility of reactions through the fullerene wall: a theoretical study of NHx@C60

The synthesis of small radicals and molecules inside fullerenes by reactions through the fullerene wall is investigated.

A nine-dimensional global potential energy surface for NH4(X2A1) and kinetics studies on the H + NH3 ↔ H2 + NH2 reaction

A nine-dimensional global potential energy surface (PES) for the NH₄ system is developed from ∼10⁵ high-level ab initio points and the hydrogen abstraction kinetics on the PES agree with experiment.

Dissociative recombination of NH4+ and ND4+ ions: Storage ring experiments andab initiomolecular dynamics

The dissociative recombination (DR) process of NH4+ and ND4+ molecular ions with free electrons has been studied at the heavy-ion storage ring CRYRING (Manne Siegbahn Laboratory, Stockholm University). The absolute cross sections for DR of NH4+ and ND4+ in the collision energy range 0.001-1 eV are reported, and thermal rate coefficients for the temperature interval from 10 to 2000 K are calculated from the experimental data. The absolute cross section for NH4+ agrees well with earlier work and is about a factor of 2 larger than the cross section for ND4+. The dissociative recombination of NH4+ is dominated by the product channels NH3+H (0.85+/-0.04) and NH2+2H (0.13+/-0.01), while the DR of ND4+ mainly results in ND3+D (0.94+/-0.03). Ab initio direct dynamics simulations, based on the assumption that the dissociation dynamics is governed by the neutral ground-state potential energy surface, suggest that the primary product formed in the DR process is NH3+H. The ejection of the H atom is direct and leaves the NH3 molecule highly vibrationally excited. A fraction of the excited ammonia molecules may subsequently undergo secondary fragmentation forming NH2+H. It is concluded that the model results are consistent with gross features of the experimental results, including the sensitivity of the branching ratio for the three-body channel NH2+2H to isotopic exchange.

Models of fragmentations induced by electron attachment to protonated peptides

Invoking a number of theoretical levels ranging from HF/STO-3G to CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ, we have made a detailed survey of six potential energy surfaces (NH4+, NH4*, [CH3CONHCH3]H+, [CH3CONHCH3]H*, [HCONHCH2CONH2]H+, [HCONHCH2CONH2]H*). In conjunction with this, ab inito direct dynamics calculations have been conducted, tracing out several hundred reaction trajectories to reveal details of the electron-capture dissociation mechanism. The model calculations suggest the possibility of a bimodal pattern where some of the radicals, formed upon recombination, dissociate almost directly within one picosecond, the remaining radicals being subject to complete energy redistribution with a subsequent dissociation occurring at the microsecond timescale. Both processes give rise to c and z backbone fragments, resulting from cleavage of N-Calpha bonds of the peptide chain.