Proton transfer barrier

The height of the potential barrier decreases with the decrease of the transfer distance. Therefore, the contribution of the transitions between excited vibrational states increases and so does the transition probability. However, short-range repulsion between the reactants increases with a decrease of R, and the reaction occurs at an optimum distance R which is determined by the competition of these two factors. In principle, we may imagine the situation when the optimum distance R corresponds to the absence of a potential barrier for the proton. However, we should keep in mind that the transitions between certain excited states may become entirely adiabatic at short distances.40,41 In this case, the further increase of the transition probability with the decrease of R becomes quite weak, and it cannot compensate for the increased repulsion between the reactants, so that even for the adiabatic transition, the optimum distance R may correspond to sub-barrier proton transfer. 

Proton transfers from strong acids to water and alcohols rank among the most rapid chemical processes and occur almost as fast as the molecules collide with one another Thus the height of the energy barrier the activation energy for proton transfer must be quite low... 

We have seen that 10" M s is about the fastest second-order rate constant that we might expect to measure this corresponds to a lifetime of about 10 " s at unit reactant concentration. Yet there is evidence, discussed by Grunwald, that certain proton transfers have lifetimes of the order 10 s. These ultrafast reactions are believed to take place via quantum mechanical tunneling through the energy barrier. This phenomenon will only be significant for very small particles, such as protons and electrons. 

High barrier is the barrier from the most stable tautomer to the less stable one. Intramolecular proton transfer. 

Lifnbach et al. [92JA9657 97BBPG889] made an exhaustive study of proton transfer in solid pyrazoles. For instance, the activation barriers, isotope and tunneling effects of the dimer 67, the trimer 68, and the tetramer 69 were determined. Catemers, like pyrazole itself, do not show dynamic behavior. 

Many computational studies in heterocyclic chemistry deal with proton transfer reactions between different tautomeric structures. Activation energies of these reactions obtained from quantum chemical calculations need further corrections, since tunneling effects may lower the effective barriers considerably. These effects can either be estimated by simple models or computed more precisely via the determination of the transmission coefficients within the framework of variational transition state calculations [92CPC235, 93JA2408]. 

FIGURE 5.8. A downhill trajectory for the proton transfer step in the catalytic reaction of trypsin. The trajectory moves on the actual ground state potential, from the top of the barrier to the relaxed enzyme-substrate complex. 1, 2, and 3 designate different points along the trajectory, whose respective configurations are depicted in the upper part of the figure. The time reversal of this trajectory corresponds to a very rare fluctuation that leads to a proton transfer from Ser 195 to His 57. 

FIGURE 9.1. The potential surface for proton transfer reaction and the effect of constrainir the tiA B distance. The figure demonstrates that the barrier for proton transfer increasi drastically if the A — B distance is kept at a distance larger than 3.5 A. However, in solutic and good enzymes the transfer occurs through pathway a where the A - B distance is arour 2.7 A. 

Comparison of Barrier Heights (BH) in kcal mol for the Proton Transfer in Malonaldehyde Computed by Different Quantum Chemical Methods... 

Besides these generalities, little is known about proton transfer towards an electrode surface. Based on classical molecular dynamics, it has been suggested that the ratedetermining step is the orientation of the HsO with one proton towards the surface [Pecina and Schmickler, 1998] this would be in line with proton transport in bulk water, where the proton transfer itself occurs without a barrier, once the participating molecules have a suitable orientation. This is also supported by a recent quantum chemical study of hydrogen evolution on a Pt(lll) surface [Skulason et al., 2007], in which the barrier for proton transfer to the surface was found to be lower than 0.15 eV. This extensive study used a highly idealized model for the solution—a bilayer of water with a few protons added—and it is not clear how this simplification affects the result. However, a fully quantum chemical model must necessarily limit the number of particles, and this study is probably among the best that one can do at present. 

Lastly, we have shown that transport of ions across the double layer is facilitated by water via proton transfer and that the barrier for the reduction of O2 is controlled by electron transfer that occurs as the proton moves close to the adsorbed O2 to form a reactive center. Electron transfer appears to occur before the actual formation of the 00 H bond. 

Rates of addition to carbonyls (or expulsion to regenerate a carbonyl) can be estimated by appropriate forms of Marcus Theory. " These reactions are often subject to general acid/base catalysis, so that it is commonly necessary to use Multidimensional Marcus Theory (MMT) - to allow for the variable importance of different proton transfer modes. This approach treats a concerted reaction as the result of several orthogonal processes, each of which has its own reaction coordinate and its own intrinsic barrier independent of the other coordinates. If an intrinsic barrier for the simple addition process is available then this is a satisfactory procedure. Intrinsic barriers are generally insensitive to the reactivity of the species, although for very reactive carbonyl compounds one finds that the intrinsic barrier becomes variable. ... 

Both these methods require equilibrium constants for the microscopic rate determining step, and a detailed mechanism for the reaction. The approaches can be illustrated by base and acid-catalyzed carbonyl hydration. For the base-catalyzed process, the most general mechanism is written as general base catalysis by hydroxide in the case of a relatively unreactive carbonyl compound, the proton transfer is probably complete at the transition state so that the reaction is in effect a simple addition of hydroxide. By MMT this is treated as a two-dimensional reaction proton transfer and C-0 bond formation, and requires two intrinsic barriers, for proton transfer and for C-0 bond formation. By NBT this is a three-dimensional reaction proton transfer, C-0 bond formation, and geometry change at carbon, and all three are taken as having no barrier. 

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