Computational tests of models for kinetic parameters of unimolecular reactions of organophosphorus and organosulfur compounds.

A computational study of the kinetics of isomerization and elimination reactions of organophosphorus and organosulfur reactions is presented with a view to characterizing the predictive capabilities of widely applied techniques for processes that pertain to the destruction of chemical warfare agents. A set of 22 reactions has been studied, and the results have been compared to experimentally derived data. The BMK functional and the MG3S basis set have been used to compute minimum energy paths. Corrections have been added from CBS-QB3, CASSCF, and CASMP2 calculations. Thermal rate constants at experimental temperatures have been calculated with canonical variational transition state theory and small-curvature tunneling theory. The quality of these results may depend on recrossing of the variational transition state, the amount of radical or diradical character found in the minimum energy paths, or the accuracy of barrier heights.

Simulant molecules with trivalent or pentavalent phosphorus atoms: bond dissociation energies and other thermodynamic and structural properties from quantum chemical models.

The CBS-QB3 and G4 thermochemical models have been used to generate energetic, structural, and spectroscopic data on a set of molecules with trivalent or pentavalent phosphorus atoms that can serve as simulants of chemical warfare agents. Based on structural data, the conformational stabilities of these molecules are explained in terms of the anomeric interaction within the OPOC and OPSC fragments. For those cases where experimental data are available, comparisons have been made between calculated and previously reported vibrational frequencies. All varieties of bond dissociation energies have been examined except those for C-H and P═O bonds. In trivalent phosphorus molecules, the O-C and S-C bonds have the lowest dissociation energies. In the pentavalent phosphorus set, the S-C bonds, followed by P-S bonds, have the lowest dissociation energies. In the fluorinated simulant molecules, the P-F bond is strongest, and the P-C or O-C bonds are weakest.

Computational tests of quantum chemical models for structures, vibrational frequencies, and heats of formation of molecules with phosphorus and sulfur atoms.

The Gaussian-n, complete basis set, and Weizmann-1 quantum chemical models for heats of formation are applied to a set of molecules with relevance to the combustion or pyrolysis of chemical warfare materials. Most of these models generate standard deviations from experiment that are less than 2 kcal/mol. The structures and vibrational frequencies that are generated in the course of these calculations are in good agreement with experimental data. Detailed comparisons with respect to structural types indicate that the present computational models are likely to generate useful data for complex models of combustion and pyrolysis of chemical warfare materials.