Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus RRKM

In the statistical description of ununolecular kinetics, known as Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory [4,7,8], it is assumed that complete IVR occurs on a timescale much shorter than that for the unimolecular reaction [9]. Furdiemiore, to identify states of the system as those for the reactant, a dividing surface [10], called a transition state, is placed at the potential energy barrier region of the potential energy surface. The assumption implicit m RRKM theory is described in the next section. 

Marcus developed a quantum mechanical formulation of Kassel-Rice-Ramsperger theories in which zero point energies have been taken into account (see flow chart). However, due to lack of data for individual molecules it is difficult to apply the theory of Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM)... 

For the rigid entrance/rigid exit complex-forming bimolecular reaction HO + CO — H + CO2, which passes through HOCO, a separated-step conventional Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) treatment extremely well reproduces the experimental temperature and pressure dependences of this four-atom system. 

In more detail, our approach can be briefly summarized as follows gas-phase reactions, surface structures, and gas-surface reactions are treated at an ab initio level, using either cluster or periodic (plane-wave) calculations for surface structures, when appropriate. The results of these calculations are used to calculate reaction rate constants within the transition state (TS) or Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory for bimolecular gas-phase reactions or unimolecular and surface reactions, respectively. The structure and energy characteristics of various surface groups can also be extracted from the results of ab initio calculations. Based on these results, a chemical mechanism can be constructed for both gas-phase reactions and surface growth. The film growth process is modeled within the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) approach, which provides an effective separation of fast and slow processes on an atomistic scale. The results of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations can be used in kinetic modeling based on formal chemical kinetics. 

Nowadays, the basic framework of our understanding of elementary processes is the transition state or activated complex theory. Formulations of this theory may be found in refs. 1—13. Recent achievements have been the Rice—Ramsperger—Kassel—Marcus (RRKM) theory of unimol-ecular reactions (see, for example, ref. 14 and Chap. 4 of this volume) and the so-called thermochemical kinetics developed by Benson and co-workers [15] for estimating thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of gas phase reactions. Computers are used in the theory of elementary processes for quantum mechanical and statistical mechanical computations. However, this theme will not be discussed further here. 

More sophisticated treatments of Lindemann s scheme by Lindemann— Hinshelwood, Rice—Ramsperger—Kassel (RRK) and finally Rice— Ramsperger—Kassel—Marcus (RRKM) have essentially been aimed at re-interpreting rate coefficients of the Lindemann scheme. RRK(M) theories are extensively used for interpreting very-low-pressure pyrolysis experiments [62, 63]. 

This standard mechanistic analysis has a long successful history. Organic chemistry textbooks are filled with PESs and discussions of the implication of single-step versus multiple-step mechanisms, concerted TSs, and so on. - Transition state theory (TST) and Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory provide tools for predicting rates based upon simple assumptions built upon the notion of reaction on the PES following the reaction coordinate. " ... 

Another advantage of the quantum calculations is that they provide a rigorous test of approximate methods for calculating dissociation rates, namely classical trajectories and statistical models. Two commonly used statistical theories are the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory and the statistical adiabatic channel model (SACM). The first one is thoroughly discussed in Chapter 2, while the second one is briefly reviewed in the Introduction. Moreover, the quantum mechanical approach is indispensable in analyzing the reaction mechanisms. A resonance state is characterized not only by its position, width and the distribution of product states, but also by an individual wave function. Analysis of the nodal structure of resonance wave functions gives direct access to the mechanisms of state- and mode-selectivity. 

Suppose we have a simple unimolecular dissociation embedded in a microcano-nical ensemble in phase space, in which only one dissociating channel is available. The Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) rate constant is given as [9]... 

B. Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) Theory... 

The most accepted modern activation theory for the outer electron transfer is that of Rudolph A. Marcus (Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1992) [14], which is different from the transition state theory. His studies on unimolecular reactions and the transition and collision theories committed him to elaborate on the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory in 1952. This theory is an extension of the previous RRK theory proposed by Rice, Ramsperger, and Kassel between 1927 and 1928. Moreover, Hush and Marcus further extended the electron transfer theory of Marcus for inner electron transfers [15-17]. 

To use the master equation, one needs a general formula for the rate constant, kj, out of minimum j through transition state f. In the micro-canonical ensemble this relation is provided by Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory [166] ... 

The rate constants were calculated with the transition state theory (TST) for direct abstraction reactions and the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory for reactions occuring via long-lived intermediates. For reactions taking place without well-defined TS s, the Variflex [35] code and the ChemRate [36] code were used for one-well and multi-well systems, respectively, based on the variational transition-state theory approach... 

Perhaps the point to emphasise in discussing theories of translational energy release is that the quasiequilibrium theory (QET) neither predicts nor seeks to describe energy release [576, 720]. Neither does the Rice— Ramsperger—Kassel—Marcus (RRKM) theory, which for the purposes of this discussion is equivalent to QET. Additional assumptions are necessary before QET can provide a basis for prediction of energy release (see Sect. 8.1.1) and the nature of these assumptions is as fundamental as the assumption of energy randomisation (ergodic hypothesis) or that of separability of the transition state reaction coordinate (Sect. 2.1). The only exception arises, in a sense by definition, with the case of the loose transition state [Sect. 8.1.1(a)]. 

Using Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory (11, 12), we can model the rates of these reactions as a function of the energy difference separating the two transition states. The result of the analysis is an estimate... 

The existence of the polyad number as a bottleneck to energy flow on short time scales is potentially important for efforts to control molecular reactivity using advanced laser techniques, discussed below in section Al.2.20. Efforts at control seek to intervene in the molecular d5Uiamics to prevent the effects of widespread vibrational energy flow, the presence of which is one of the key assumptions of Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) and other theories of reaction d5Uiamics [6]. 

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