Solution reaction path Hamiltonian

S. Lee and J. T. Hynes, Solution reaction path Hamiltonian for reactions in polar... 

LAM = large amplitude motion RP = reaction path RPH = reaction path Hamiltonian RSH = reaction surface Hamiltonian SAM = small amplitude motion SRP = specific reaction parameter SRPH = solution reaction path Hamiltonian. 

A Solution Reaction Path Hamiltonian (SRPH) for Reactions in Polar Solvents... 

Of course, there is more to a chemical reaction than its rate constant the reaction path or mechanism is also of central interest. Once again, nonequilibrium solvation is crucial in describing this path. In an equilibrium solvation picture, the solvent polarization would remain equilibrated throughout the reaction course, but this assumption is rarely satisfied for an actual reaction path, because of the same considerations noted above for the rate constant. Indeed these nonequilibrium solvation effects can qualitatively change the character of the reaction path as compared with an equilibrium solvation image. Dielectric continuum dynamic descriptions thus have an important role to play here as well. Indeed, we will employ in this contribution the reaction path Hamiltonian formulation previously developed [48,49], which can be used to generate a reaction path which is the analog in solution of the well-known Fukui reaction path in the gas phase [50], The reaction path will be discussed for both reaction topics in this contribution. 

In the empirical valence bond (EVB) model [304, 349, 370] a fairly small number of VB functions is used to fit a VB model of a chemical reaction path the parameterisation of these functions is carried out to reproduce experimental or ab initio MO data. The simple EVB Hamiltonian thus calibrated for a model reaction in solution can subsequently be used in the description of the enzyme-ligand complex. One of the most ingenious attributes of the EVB model is that the reduction of the number of VB resonance structures included in the model does not introduce serious errors, as would happen in an ab initio VB formulation, due to the parameterisation of the VB framework which ensures the reproduction of the experimental or other information used. This computationally efficient approach has been extensively used with remarkable success [305, 306, 371, 379] A similar method presented by Kim and Hymes [380] considers a non-equilibrium coupling between the solute and the solvent, the latter being treated as a dielectric continuum. 

The simplest way to include solvation effects is to calculate the reaction path and tunneling paths of the solute in the gas phase and then add the free energy of solvation at every point along the reaction path and tunneling paths. This is equivalent to treating the Hamiltonian as separable in solute coordinates and solvent coordinates, and we call it separable equilibrium solvation (SES) [74]. Adding tunneling in this method requires a new approximation, namely the canonical mean shape (CMS) approximation [75]. 

Solving Eqs. [4] and [5] is the task of theoretical chemistry. Electronic structure methods capable of solving the electronic problem have progressed enormously during the past 40 years and standardized computational models have emerged. John Pople received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1998 for being one of the pioneers of this evolution. Solution of the electronic part of the Hamiltonian provides structures, reaction paths and transition... 

The instanton theory of tunneling splittings in hydrogen-bonded systems and decay of metastable states in polyatomic molecules was studied by Nakamura et al. [182, 192, 195, 201-204, 216] They formulated a rigorous solution of the multidimensional Hamiltonian-Jacobi and transport equations, developed numerical methods to construct a multidimensional tunneling instanton path, and applied this method to HO [201], malonaldehyde [192, 195], vinyl radical [203], and formic acid dimer [202]. Coupled electron and proton transfer reactions were recently reviewed by Hammes-Schiffer and Stuchebrukhov [209]. 

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