Direct kinetic measurements of reactions between the simplest Criegee intermediate CH2OO and alkenes.

The simplest Criegee Intermediate (CH2OO), a well-known biradical formed in alkene ozonolysis, is known to add across double bonds. Here we report direct experimental rate measurements of the simplest Criegee Intermediate reacting with C2­C4 alkenes obtained using the laser flash photolysis technique probing the recently measured B(1)A' ← X(1)A' transition in CH2OO. The measured activation energy (298­494 K) for CH2OO + alkenes is Ea ≈ 3500 ± 1000 J mol(­1) for all alkyl substituted alkenes and Ea = 7000 ± 900 J mol(­1) for ethene. The measured Arrhenius pre-exponential factors (A) vary between (2 ± 1) × 10(­15) and (11 ± 3) × 10(­15) cm(3) molecule(­1) s(­1). Quantum chemical calculations of the corresponding rate coefficients reproduce qualitative reactivity trends but overestimate the absolute rate coefficients. Despite the small Ea's, the CH2OO + alkene rate coefficients are almost 2 orders of magnitude smaller than those of similar reactions between CH2OO and carbonyl compounds. Using the rate constants measured here, we estimate that, under typical atmospheric conditions, reaction with alkenes does not represent a significant sink of CH2OO. In environments rich in C═C double bonds, however, such as ozone-exposed rubber or emission plumes, these reactions can play a significant role.

Chemically activated formation of organic acids in reactions of the Criegee intermediate with aldehydes and ketones.

Reactions of the Criegee intermediate (CI, ˙CH2OO˙) are important in atmospheric ozonolysis models. In this work, we compute the rates for reactions between ˙CH2OO˙ and HCHO, CH3CHO and CH3COCH3 leading to the formation of secondary ozonides (SOZ) and organic acids. Relative to infinitely separated reactants, the SOZ in all three cases is found to be 48-51 kcal mol(-1) lower in energy, formed via 1,3-cycloaddition of ˙CH2OO˙ across the C=O bond. The lowest energy pathway found for SOZ decomposition is intramolecular disproportionation of the singlet biradical intermediate formed from cleavage of the O-O bond to form hydroxyalkyl esters. These hydroxyalkyl esters undergo concerted decomposition providing a low energy pathway from SOZ to acids. Geometries and frequencies of all stationary points were obtained using the B3LYP/MG3S DFT model chemistry, and energies were refined using RCCSD(T)-F12a/cc-pVTZ-F12 single-point calculations. RRKM calculations were used to obtain microcanonical rate coefficients (k(E)) and the reservoir state method was used to obtain temperature and pressure dependent rate coefficients (k(T, P)) and product branching ratios. At atmospheric pressure, the yield of collisionally stabilized SOZ was found to increase in the order HCHO < CH3CHO < CH3COCH3 (the highest yield being 10(-4) times lower than the initial ˙CH2OO˙ concentration). At low pressures, chemically activated formation of organic acids (formic acid in the case of HCHO and CH3COCH3, formic and acetic acid in the case of CH3CHO) was found to be the major product channel in agreement with recent direct measurements. Collisional energy transfer parameters and the barrier heights for SOZ reactions were found to be the most sensitive parameters determining SOZ and organic acid yield.

New pathways for formation of acids and carbonyl products in low-temperature oxidation: the Korcek decomposition of γ-ketohydroperoxides.

We present new reaction pathways relevant to low-temperature oxidation in gaseous and condensed phases. The new pathways originate from γ-ketohydroperoxides (KHP), which are well-known products in low-temperature oxidation and are assumed to react only via homolytic O-O dissociation in existing kinetic models. Our ab initio calculations identify new exothermic reactions of KHP forming a cyclic peroxide isomer, which decomposes via novel concerted reactions into carbonyl and carboxylic acid products. Geometries and frequencies of all stationary points are obtained using the M06-2X/MG3S DFT model chemistry, and energies are refined using RCCSD(T)-F12a/cc-pVTZ-F12 single-point calculations. Thermal rate coefficients are computed using variational transition-state theory (VTST) calculations with multidimensional tunneling contributions based on small-curvature tunneling (SCT). These are combined with multistructural partition functions (Q(MS-T)) to obtain direct dynamics multipath (MP-VTST/SCT) gas-phase rate coefficients. For comparison with liquid-phase measurements, solvent effects are included using continuum dielectric solvation models. The predicted rate coefficients are found to be in excellent agreement with experiment when due consideration is made for acid-catalyzed isomerization. This work provides theoretical confirmation of the 30-year-old hypothesis of Korcek and co-workers that KHPs are precursors to carboxylic acid formation, resolving an open problem in the kinetics of liquid-phase autoxidation. The significance of the new pathways in atmospheric chemistry, low-temperature combustion, and oxidation of biological lipids are discussed.

An extensible framework for capturing solvent effects in computer generated kinetic models.

Detailed kinetic models provide useful mechanistic insight into a chemical system. Manual construction of such models is laborious and error-prone, which has led to the development of automated methods for exploring chemical pathways. These methods rely on fast, high-throughput estimation of species thermochemistry and kinetic parameters. In this paper, we present a methodology for extending automatic mechanism generation to solution phase systems which requires estimation of solvent effects on reaction rates and equilibria. The linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) method of Abraham and co-workers is combined with Mintz correlations to estimate ΔG(solv)°(T) in over 30 solvents using solute descriptors estimated from group additivity. Simple corrections are found to be adequate for the treatment of radical sites, as suggested by comparison with known experimental data. The performance of scaled particle theory expressions for enthalpic-entropic decomposition of ΔG(solv)°(T) is also presented along with the associated computational issues. Similar high-throughput methods for solvent effects on free-radical kinetics are only available for a handful of reactions due to lack of reliable experimental data, and continuum dielectric calculations offer an alternative method for their estimation. For illustration, we model liquid phase oxidation of tetralin in different solvents computing the solvent dependence for ROO• + ROO• and ROO• + solvent reactions using polarizable continuum quantum chemistry methods. The resulting kinetic models show an increase in oxidation rate with solvent polarity, consistent with experiment. Further work needed to make this approach more generally useful is outlined.

Which Ab Initio Wave Function Methods Are Adequate for Quantitative Calculations of the Energies of Biradicals? The Performance of Coupled-Cluster and Multi-Reference Methods Along a Single-Bond Dissociation Coordinate.

We examine the accuracy of single-reference and multireference correlated wave function methods for predicting accurate energies and potential energy curves of biradicals. The biradicals considered are intermediate species along the bond dissociation coordinates for breaking the F-F bond in F2, the O-O bond in H2O2, and the C-C bond in CH3CH3. We apply a host of single-reference and multireference approximations in a consistent way to the same cases to provide a better assessment of their relative accuracies than was previously possible. The most accurate method studied is coupled cluster theory with all connected excitations through quadruples, CCSDTQ. Without explicit quadruple excitations, the most accurate potential energy curves are obtained by the single-reference RCCSDt method, followed, in order of decreasing accuracy, by UCCSDT, RCCSDT, UCCSDt, seven multireference methods, including perturbation theory, configuration interaction, and coupled-cluster methods (with MRCI+Q being the best and Mk-MR-CCSD the least accurate), four CCSD(T) methods, and then CCSD.