Reaction unimolecular

In many cases, however, well-designed catalysts provide intrinsically different reaction paths, and the specific nature of the catalyst surface can be quite important. This is clearly the case with unimolecular reactions for which the surface concentration effect is not applicable. 

Shapiro M and Brumer P 1986 Laser control of product quantum state populations in unimolecular reactions J. Chem. Phys. 84 4103... 

In the case of bunolecular gas-phase reactions, encounters are simply collisions between two molecules in the framework of the general collision theory of gas-phase reactions (section A3,4,5,2 ). For a random thennal distribution of positions and momenta in an ideal gas reaction, the probabilistic reasoning has an exact foundation. Flowever, as noted in the case of unimolecular reactions, in principle one must allow for deviations from this ideal behaviour and, thus, from the simple rate law, although in practice such deviations are rarely taken into account theoretically or established empirically. 

For themial unimolecular reactions with bimolecular collisional activation steps and for bimolecular reactions, more specifically one takes the limit of tire time evolution operator for - co and t —> + co to describe isolated binary collision events. The corresponding matrix representation of f)is called the scattering matrix or S-matrix with matrix elements... 

A) UNIMOLECULAR REACTIONS WITH UNIMOLECULAR BACK REACTION... 

The system of coupled differential equations that result from a compound reaction mechanism consists of several different (reversible) elementary steps. The kinetics are described by a system of coupled differential equations rather than a single rate law. This system can sometimes be decoupled by assuming that the concentrations of the intennediate species are small and quasi-stationary. The Lindemann mechanism of thermal unimolecular reactions [18,19] affords an instructive example for the application of such approximations. This mechanism is based on the idea that a molecule A has to pick up sufficient energy... 

The effective rate law correctly describes the pressure dependence of unimolecular reaction rates at least qualitatively. This is illustrated in figure A3,4,9. In the lunit of high pressures, i.e. large [M], becomes independent of [M] yielding the high-pressure rate constant of an effective first-order rate law. At very low pressures, product fonnation becomes much faster than deactivation. A j now depends linearly on [M]. This corresponds to an effective second-order rate law with the pseudo first-order rate constant Aq ... 

This approxunation is generally valid if For the Lindemann mechanism of unimolecular reactions... 

An important example for the application of general first-order kinetics in gas-phase reactions is the master equation treatment of the fall-off range of themial unimolecular reactions to describe non-equilibrium effects in the weak collision limit when activation and deactivation cross sections (equation (A3.4.125)) are to be retained in detail [ ]. 

Quack M 1984 On the mechanism of reversible unimolecular reactions and the canonical ( high pressure ) limit of the rate coefficient at low pressures Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem. 88 94-100... 

Gilbert R G, Luther K and Troe J 1983 Theory of thermal unimolecular reactions in the fall-off range. II. Weak collision rate constants Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem. 87 169-77... 

Slater N B 1959 Theory of Unimolecular Reactions (Wnaca, NY Cornell University Press)... 

Robinson P J and Fioibrook K A 1972 Unimolecular Reactions (London Wiiey)... 

Piiiing M J and Smith i W M (eds) 1987 Modern Gas Kinetics. Theory, Experiment and Application (Qxford Biackweii) Giibert R G and Smith S C (eds) 1990 Theory of Unimolecular and Recombination Reactions (Qxford Biackweii) Fioibrook K A, Piiiing M J and Robertson S Fi (eds) 1996 Unimolecular Reactions 2nd edn (Chichester Wiiey)... 

Baer T and Fiase W L (eds) 1996 Unimolecular Reaction Dynamics (Qxford Qxford University Press)... 

The introductory remarks about unimolecular reactions apply equivalently to bunolecular reactions in condensed phase. An essential additional phenomenon is the effect the solvent has on the rate of approach of reactants and the lifetime of the collision complex. In a dense fluid the rate of approach evidently is detennined by the mutual difhision coefficient of reactants under the given physical conditions. Once reactants have met, they are temporarily trapped in a solvent cage until they either difhisively separate again or react. It is conmron to refer to the pair of reactants trapped in the solvent cage as an encounter complex. If the unimolecular reaction of this encounter complex is much faster than diffiisive separation i.e., if the effective reaction barrier is sufficiently small or negligible, tlie rate of the overall bimolecular reaction is difhision controlled. 

For analysing equilibrium solvent effects on reaction rates it is connnon to use the thennodynamic fomuilation of TST and to relate observed solvent-mduced changes in the rate coefficient to variations in Gibbs free-energy differences between solvated reactant and transition states with respect to some reference state. Starting from the simple one-dimensional expression for the TST rate coefficient of a unimolecular reaction a— r... 

From stochastic molecnlar dynamics calcnlations on the same system, in the viscosity regime covered by the experiment, it appears that intra- and intennolecnlar energy flow occur on comparable time scales, which leads to the conclnsion that cyclohexane isomerization in liquid CS2 is an activated process [99]. Classical molecnlar dynamics calcnlations [104] also reprodnce the observed non-monotonic viscosity dependence of ic. Furthennore, they also yield a solvent contribntion to the free energy of activation for tlie isomerization reaction which in liquid CS, increases by abont 0.4 kJ moC when the solvent density is increased from 1.3 to 1.5 g cm T Tims the molecnlar dynamics calcnlations support the conclnsion that the high-pressure limit of this unimolecular reaction is not attained in liquid solntion at ambient pressure. It has to be remembered, though, that the analysis of the measnred isomerization rates depends critically on the estimated valne of... 

Troe J 1975 Unimolecular reactions experiments and theories Kinetics of Gas Reactions ed W dost (New York Academic) p 835... 

Khundkar L R, Marcus R A and Zewail A H 1983 Unimolecular reactions at low energies and RRKM-behaviour isomerization and dissociation J. Phys. Chem. 87 2473-6... 

Schroeder J 1996 The role of solute-solvent interactions in the dynamics of unimolecular reactions in compressed solvents J. Phys. Condens. Matters 9379... 

What attributes of bimolecular and unimolecular reactions are of interest Most important is the identity of the products, without which any further characterization is impossible. Once this is established, more detailed issues can be addressed. For example, m any exothenuic reaction, one would like to detenuine how the excess energy is... 

As reactants transfonn to products in a chemical reaction, reactant bonds are broken and refomied for the products. Different theoretical models are used to describe this process ranging from time-dependent classical or quantum dynamics [1,2], in which the motions of individual atoms are propagated, to models based on the postidates of statistical mechanics [3], The validity of the latter models depends on whether statistical mechanical treatments represent the actual nature of the atomic motions during the chemical reaction. Such a statistical mechanical description has been widely used in imimolecular kinetics [4] and appears to be an accurate model for many reactions. It is particularly instructive to discuss statistical models for unimolecular reactions, since the model may be fomuilated at the elementary microcanonical level and then averaged to obtain the canonical model. 

Unimolecular reactions are important in chemistry, physics, biochemistry, materials science, and many otiier areas of science and are denoted by... 

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. 

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). 

As discussed in section A3.12.2. intrinsic non-RRKM behaviour occurs when there is at least one bottleneck for transitions between the reactant molecule s vibrational states, so drat IVR is slow and a microcanonical ensemble over the reactant s phase space is not maintained during the unimolecular reaction. The above discussion of mode-specific decomposition illustrates that there are unimolecular reactions which are intrinsically non-RRKM. Many van der Waals molecules behave in this maimer [4,82]. For example, in an initial microcanonical ensemble for the ( 211 )2 van der Waals molecule both the C2H4—C2H4 intennolecular modes and C2H4 intramolecular modes are excited with equal probabilities. However, this microcanonical ensemble is not maintained as the dimer dissociates. States with energy in the intermolecular modes react more rapidly than do those with the C2H4 intramolecular modes excited [85]. 

Hase W L and Buckowski D G 1982 Dynamics of ethyl radical decomposition. II. Applicability of classical mechanics to large-molecule unimolecular reaction dynamics J. Comp. Chem. 3 335-43... 

Chesnavich W J, Bass L, Su T and Bowers M T 1981 Multiple transition states in unimolecular reactions a transition state switching model. Application to C Hg" J. Chem. Rhys. 74 2228—46... 

Bunker D L and Pattengill M 1968 Monte Carlo calculations. VI. A re-evaluation of the RRKM theory of unimolecular reaction rates J. Chem. Phys. 48 772-6... 

Green W H, Moore C B and Polik W F 1992 Transition states and rate constants for unimolecular reactions Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 43 591-626... 

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... 

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