Reactions dynamics

Both molecular dynamics studies and femtosecond laser spectroscopy results show that molecules with a sufficient amount of energy to react often vibrate until the nuclei follow a path that leads to the reaction coordinate. Dynamical calculations, called trajectory calculations, are an application of the molecular dynamics method that can be performed at semiempirical or ah initio levels of theory. See Chapter 19 for further details. 

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The existence of the polyad number as a bottleneck to energy flow on short time scales is potentially important for efforts to control molecnlar reactivity rising advanced laser techniqnes, discussed below in section Al.2.20. Efforts at control seek to intervene in the molecnlar dynamics to prevent the effects of widespread vibrational energy flow, the presence of which is one of the key assumptions of Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcns (RRKM) and other theories of reaction dynamics [6]. 

Bernstein R B and Zare R N 1980 State to state reaction dynamics Phys. Today 33 43... 

Levine R D and Bernstein R B (eds) 1989 Molecular Reaction Dynamics and Chemical Reactivity (Qxford Qxford University Press)... 

Troe J 1992 Statisticai aspects of ion-moiecuie reactions State-Selected and State-to-State Ion-Molecule Reaction Dynamics Theory ed M Baer M and C-Y Ng (New York Wiiey)... 

Smith M A 1994 Ion-molecule reaction dynamics at very low temperatures Unimolecular and Bimolecular Ion-Molecule Reaction Dynamics ed C-Y Ng, T Baer and I Powis (New York Wiley)... 

Kramers solution of the barrier crossing problem [45] is discussed at length in chapter A3.8 dealing with condensed-phase reaction dynamics. As the starting point to derive its simplest version one may use the Langevin equation, a stochastic differential equation for the time evolution of a slow variable, the reaction coordinate r, subject to a rapidly statistically fluctuating force F caused by microscopic solute-solvent interactions under the influence of an external force field generated by the PES F for the reaction... 

Hynes J T 1985 The theory of reactions in solution Theory of Chemical Reaction Dynamics ed M Baer (Boca Raton, FL CRC Press) pp 171-234... 

In most of gas phase reaction dynamics, the fundamental reactions of interest are bimolecular reactions. 

The field of gas phase reaction dynamics has been extensively reviewed elsewhere [1, 2 and 3] in considerably greater detail than is appropriate for this chapter. Here, we begin by simnnarizing the key theoretical concepts and experimental teclmiques used in reaction dynamics, followed by a case study , the reaction F + H2 HF + H, which serves as an illustrative example of these ideas. 

The above discussion represents a necessarily brief simnnary of the aspects of chemical reaction dynamics. The theoretical focus of tliis field is concerned with the development of accurate potential energy surfaces and the calculation of scattering dynamics on these surfaces. Experimentally, much effort has been devoted to developing complementary asymptotic techniques for product characterization and frequency- and time-resolved teclmiques to study transition-state spectroscopy and dynamics. It is instructive to see what can be accomplished with all of these capabilities. Of all the benclunark reactions mentioned in section A3.7.2. the reaction F + H2 —> HE + H represents the best example of how theory and experiment can converge to yield a fairly complete picture of the dynamics of a chemical reaction. Thus, the remainder of this chapter focuses on this reaction as a case study in reaction dynamics. 

Flowever, in order to deliver on its promise and maximize its impact on the broader field of chemistry, the methodology of reaction dynamics must be extended toward more complex reactions involving polyatomic molecules and radicals for which even the primary products may not be known. There certainly have been examples of this notably the crossed molecular beams work by Lee [59] on the reactions of O atoms with a series of hydrocarbons. In such cases the spectroscopy of the products is often too complicated to investigate using laser-based techniques, but the recent marriage of intense syncluotron radiation light sources with state-of-the-art scattering instruments holds considerable promise for the elucidation of the bimolecular and photodissociation dynamics of these more complex species. 

In order to segregate the theoretical issues of condensed phase effects in chemical reaction dynamics, it is usefiil to rewrite the exact classical rate constant in (A3.8.2) as [5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10 and U]... 

Nitzan A 1988 Activated rate processes in condensed phases the Kramers theory revisited Adv. Chem. Phys. 70 489 Onuchic J N and Wolynes P G 1988 Classical and quantum pictures of reaction dynamics in condensed matter resonances, dephasing and all that J. Phys. Chem. 92 6495... 

The direct dissociation of diatomic molecules is the most well studied process in gas-surface dynamics, the one for which the combination of surface science and molecular beam teclmiques allied to the computation of total energies and detailed and painstaking solution of the molecular dynamics has been most successful. The result is a substantial body of knowledge concerning the importance of the various degrees of freedom (e.g. molecular rotation) to the reaction dynamics, the details of which are contained in a number of review articles [2, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41]. 

Weinberg W H 1991 Kinetics of surface reactions Dynamics of Gas-Surface Interactions ed C T Rettner and M N R Ashfold (London Royal Society of Chemistry)... 

A completely difierent approach to scattering involves writing down an expression that can be used to obtain S directly from the wavefunction, and which is stationary with respect to small errors in die waveftmction. In this case one can obtain the scattering matrix element by variational theory. A recent review of this topic has been given by Miller [32]. There are many different expressions that give S as a ftmctional of the wavefunction and, therefore, there are many different variational theories. This section describes the Kohn variational theory, which has proven particularly useftil in many applications in chemical reaction dynamics. To keep the derivation as simple as possible, we restrict our consideration to potentials of die type plotted in figure A3.11.1(c) where the waveftmcfton vanishes in the limit of v -oo, and where the Smatrix is a scalar property so we can drop the matrix notation. 

Baer M (ed) 1985 The Theory of Chemical Reaction Dynamics (Boca Raton, FL Chemical Rubber Company)... 

Baer T and Hase W L 1996 Unimolecular Reaction Dynamics. Theory and Experiments (New York Oxford University Press)... 

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