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Title: Accounting for conformational flexibility and torsional anharmonicity in the H + CH{sub 3}CH{sub 2}OH hydrogen abstraction reactions: A multi-path variational transition state theory study

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4873350· OSTI ID:22252926
;  [1]
  1. Department of Physical Chemistry and Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

This work reports a detailed theoretical study of the hydrogen abstraction reactions from ethanol by atomic hydrogen. The calculated thermal rate constants take into account torsional anharmonicity and conformational flexibility, in addition to the variational and tunneling effects. Specifically, the kinetics calculations were performed by using multi-path canonical variational transition state theory with least-action path tunneling corrections, to which we have added the two-dimensional non-separable method to take into account torsional anharmonicity. The multi-path thermal rate constant is expressed as a sum over conformational reaction channels. Each of these channels includes all the transition states that can be reached by internal rotations. The results show that, in the interval of temperatures between 250 and 2500 K, the account for multiple paths leads to higher thermal rate constants with respect to the single path approach, mainly at low and at high temperatures. In addition, torsional anharmonicity enhances the slope of the Arrhenius plot in this range of temperatures. Finally, we show that the incorporation of tunneling into the hydrogen abstraction reactions substantially changes the contribution of each of the transition states to the conformational reaction channel.

OSTI ID:
22252926
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 140, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English