Surface reactions Transition-state theory

For another perspective we mention a second approach of which the reader should be aware. In this approach the dividing surface of transition state theory is defined not in terms of a classical mechanical reaction coordinate but rather in terms of the centroid coordinate of a path integral (path integral quantum TST, or PI-QTST) [96-99] or the average coordinate of a quanta wave packet. In model studies of a symmetric reaction, it was shown that the PI-QTST approach agrees well with the multidimensional transmission coefScient approach used here when the frequency of the bath is high, but both approaches are less accurate when the frequency is low, probably due to anharmonicity [98] and the path centroid constraint [97[. However, further analysis is needed to develop practical PI-QTST-type methods for asymmetric reactions [99]. 

A collision theory of even gas phase reactions is not totally satisfactory, and the problems with the steric factor that we described earfier make this approach more empirical and qualitative than we would like. Transition state theory, developed largely by Henry Eyring, takes a somewhat different approach. We have already considered the potential energy surfaces that provide a graphical energy model for chemical reactions. Transition state theory (or activated complex theory) refers to the details of how reactions become products. For a reaction fike... 

I. Shavitt, A Correlation of Experimental Rate Constants of the Hydrogen Exchange Reactions with a Theoretical H3 Potential Surface, Using Transition State Theory, J. Chem. Phys. 49, 4048-4056 (1968). 

The measurement of the rate of this reaction is made possible by the fact that H2 exists in two forms, designated ortho (o) and para (p). To explain the kinetics of this reaction a large number of theoretical studies have been made. It is now possible to calculate, by pure quantum mechanics, an accurate potential energy surface for this reaction. For this particular reaction, which has a symmetrical potential energy surface, conventional transition-state theory is in good agreement with the best of the dynamical treatments. 

In this contribution, we present a preliminary account of our recent work on the Cl + H2 and Cl + D2 reactions, which includes a new potential energy surface, variational transition state theory and semiclassical tunneling calculations for both reactions and for other isotopomeric cases, and accurate quantum dynamical calculations of rate constants and state-to-state integral and differential cross sections. 

Hydrogen Exchange Reactions with a Theoretical H3 Potential Surface, Using Transition-State Theory. 

Variational transition state theory (VTST) is formulated around a variational theorem, which allows the optimization of a hypersurface (points on the potential energy surface) that is the elfective point of no return for reactions. This hypersurface is not necessarily through the saddle point. Assuming that molecules react without a reverse reaction once they have passed this surface... 

Rather than using transition state theory or trajectory calculations, it is possible to use a statistical description of reactions to compute the rate constant. There are a number of techniques that can be considered variants of the statistical adiabatic channel model (SACM). This is, in essence, the examination of many possible reaction paths, none of which would necessarily be seen in a trajectory calculation. By examining paths that are easier to determine than the trajectory path and giving them statistical weights, the whole potential energy surface is accounted for and the rate constant can be computed. 

The original microscopic rate theory is the transition state theory (TST) [10-12]. This theory is based on two fundamental assumptions about the system dynamics. (1) There is a transition state dividing surface that separates the short-time intrastate dynamics from the long-time interstate dynamics. (2) Once the reactant gains sufficient energy in its reaction coordinate and crosses the transition state the system will lose energy and become deactivated product. That is, the reaction dynamics is activated crossing of the barrier, and every activated state will successfully react to fonn product. 

Given the foregoing assumptions, it is a simple matter to construct an expression for the transition state theory rate constant as the probability of (1) reaching the transition state dividing surface and (2) having a momenrnm along the reaction coordinate directed from reactant to product. Stated another way, is the equilibrium flux of reactant states across... 

We must be able to define the reaction coordinate along which the transition state theory dividing surface is defined. 

As discussed by Miller and co-workers [52,53], it is worthwhile to develop theories that enable us to evaluate thermal reaction rate constants directly and not to rely on the calculations of the most detailed scattering matrix or the state-to-state reaction probabihty. Here, our formulation of the nonadiabatic transition state theory is briefly described for the simplest case in which the transition state is created by potential surface crossing [27]. 

Finally, we will apply transition state theory and collision theory to some elementary surface reactions that are important in catalysis. 

The system we consider consists of a volume of gas containing Ng gas atoms interacting with a surface that contains M adsorption sites or Nq = M/A adsorption sites per area. In terms of transition state theory the rate of reaction is then dN . 

The transition state theory of reaction rates [21] provides the link between macroscopic reaction rates and molecular properties of the reactants, such as translational, vibrational, and rotational degrees of freedom. For an extensive discussion of transition state theory applied to surface reactions we refer to books by Zhdanov [25] and by Van Santen and Niemantsverdriet [27]. The desorption of a molecule M proceeds as follows ... 

Transition State Theory [1,4] is the most frequently used theory to calculate rate constants for reactions in the gas phase. The two most basic assumptions of this theory are the separation of the electronic and nuclear motions (stemming from the Bom-Oppenheimer approximation [5]), and that the reactant internal states are in thermal equilibrium with each other (that is, the reactant molecules are distributed among their states in accordance with the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution). In addition, the fundamental hypothesis [6] of the Transition State Theory is that the net rate of forward reaction at equilibrium is given by the flux of trajectories across a suitable phase space surface (rather a hypersurface) in the product direction. This surface divides reactants from products and it is called the dividing surface. Wigner [6] showed long time ago that for reactants in thermal equilibrium, the Transition State expression gives the exact... 

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