Unimolecular reactions, energy disposal from

A reaction-path based method is described to obtain information from ab initio quantum chemistry calculations about the dynamics of energy disposal in exothermic unimolecular reactions important in the initiation of detonation in energetic materials. Such detailed information at the microscopic level may be used directly or as input for molecular dynamics simulations to gain insight relevant for the macroscopic processes. The semiclassical method, whieh uses potential energy surface information in the broad vicinity of the steepest descent reaction path, treats a reaction coordinate classically and the vibrational motions perpendicular to the reaction path quantum mechanically. Solution of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation leads to detailed predictions about the energy disposal in exothermic chemical reactions. The method is described and applied to the unimolecular decomposition of methylene nitramine. 

---