Dissociation dynamics, unimolecular reactions

Detailed analyses of the above experiments suggest that the apparent steps in k E) may not arise from quantized transition state energy levels [110.111]. Transition state models used to interpret the ketene and acetaldehyde dissociation experiments are not consistent with the results of high-level ab initio calculations [110.111]. The steps observed for NO2 dissociation may originate from the opening of electronically excited dissociation chaimels [107.108]. It is also of interest that RRKM-like steps in k E) are not found from detailed quantum dynamical calculations of unimolecular dissociation [91.101.102.112]. More studies are needed of unimolecular reactions near tln-eshold to detennine whether tiiere are actual quantized transition states and steps in k E) and, if not, what is the origin of the apparent steps in the above measurements of k E). 

Sloane C S and Hase W L 1977 On the dynamics of state selected unimolecular reactions chloroacetylene dissociation and predissociation J. Chem. Phys. 66 1523-33... 

Polik W F, Guyer D R, Miller W H and Moore C B 1990 Eigenstate-resolved unimolecular reaction dynamics ergodic character of Sq formaldehyde at the dissociation threshold J. Chem. Phys. 92 3471-84... 

In principle, one can induce and control unimolecular reactions directly in the electronic ground state via intense IR fields. Note that this resembles traditional thermal unimolecular reactions, in the sense that the dynamics is confined to the electronic ground state. High intensities are typically required in order to climb up the vibrational ladder and induce bond breaking (or isomerization). The dissociation probability is substantially enhanced when the frequency of the field is time dependent, i.e., the frequency must decrease as a function of time in order to accommodate the anharmonicity of the potential. Selective bond breaking in polyatomic molecules is, in addition, complicated by the fact that the dynamics in various bond-stretching coordinates is coupled due to anharmonic terms in the potential. 

In an effort to understand the intramolecular dynamics in unimolecular dissociation. Remade and Levine [87] used an effective Hamiltonian approach that can account for different time scales associated with unimolecular reaction. In doing so, they assumed that a dense set of energy levels lies above the dissociation barrier and that the barrier is sufficiently high that the number of states from which dissociation occurs is small compared to the number of bound states. 

The effective Hamiltonian approach clearly shows the important role of intramolecular energy flow in the quantum dynamics of unimolecular dissociation. It suggests that unless intramolecular energy flow is dominantly rapid, there exist two drastically different time scales in the reaction dynamics. This is consistent with the classical concept that nonstatistical behavior in intramolecular energy flow, such as bottleneck effects, can dramatically alter the kinetics of unimolecular reaction. 

A study of the analogous reaction of O ( D ) with alcohols (Goldstein and Wiesenfeld, 1983), while of no direct atmospheric importance, reveals interesting details concerning the reactive characteristics of electronically excited oxygen atoms and provides information about the unimolecular dissociation dynamics of chemically activated molecules. In the generic case of O ( D2) reaction with methanol, a variety of reactive pathways are available ... 

Vibrational predissociation (VP) of a van der Waals triatomic complex A..BC is an example of a unimolecular reaction the rate of which is controlled by the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (TVR) [1]. Within a rigorous quantum mechanical approach, the VP dynamics is completely characterized by the complex-valued energies E = - /T / 2 that lie above the dissociation threshold of A..BC into an atom A and... 

This minimally dynamic approach has been applied to both bimolecular and unimolecular reactions a typical result for the latter case is shown in Fig. 6. In this case we consider the dissociation of CCH on two different potential surfaces due to Wolf and Hase.36 These authors classified the first surface (their case IIC) as yielding RRKM dissociation, whereas their surface IIA yielded non-RRKM dynamics. The exact trajectory results for translational, vibrational, and rotational distributions for these two cases are shown as solid histograms in Fig. 6. The minimally dynamic construction, which requires only short-lived trajectory calculations, are shown as dashed histograms in the same figure and are seen to be in excellent agreement with the exact results. 

Initiated by the chemical dynamics simulations of Bunker [37,38] for the unimolecular decomposition of model triatomic molecules, computational chemistry has had an enormous impact on the development of unimolecular rate theory. Some of the calculations have been exploratory, in that potential energy functions have been used which do not represent a specific molecule or molecules, but instead describe general properties of a broad class of molecules. Such calculations have provided fundamental information concerning the unimolecular dissociation dynamics of molecules. The goal of other chemical dynamics simulations has been to accurately describe the unimolecular decomposition of specific molecules and make direct comparisons with experiment. The microscopic chemical dynamics obtained from these simulations is the detailed information required to formulate an accurate theory of unimolecular reaction rates. The role of computational chemistry in unimolecular kinetics was aptly described by Bunker [37] when he wrote The usual approach to chemical kinetic theory has been to base one s decisions on the relevance of various features of molecular motion upon the outcome of laboratory experiments. There is, however, no reason (other than the arduous calculations involved) why the bridge between experimental and theoretical reality might not equally well start on the opposite side of the gap. In this paper... results are reported of the simulation of the motion of large numbers of triatomic molecules by... 

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