Ab initio investigation of the abstraction reactions by H and D from tetramethylsilane and its deuterated substitutions.

Thermal rate constants for chemical reactions using the corrections of zero curvature tunneling (ZCT) and of small curvature tunneling (SCT) methods are reported. The general procedure is implemented and used with high-quality ab initio computations and semiclassical reaction probabilities along the minimum energy path (MEP). The approach is based on a vibrational adiabatic reaction path and is applied to the H + Si(CH3)4 → H2 + Si(CH3)3CH2 reaction and its isotopically substituted variants. All of the degrees of freedom are optimized, and harmonic vibrational frequencies and zero-point energies are calculated at the MP2(full) level with the cc-pVTZ basis set. Single-point energies are calculated at a higher level of theory with the same basis set, namely, CCSD(T,full). The influence of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) on the energetics is tested. The method is further exploited to predict primary and secondary kinetic isotope effects (KIEs and SKIEs, respectively). Rate constants computed with the ZCT and SCT methods over a wide temperature range (180-2000 K) show important quantum tunneling effects at low temperatures when compared to rates obtained from the purely classical transition-state theory (TST) and from the canonical variational transition state theory (CVT). For the H + Si(CH3)4 reaction, they are given by the following expressions: k(TST/ZCT) = 9.47 × 10(-19) × T(2.65) exp(-2455.7/T) and k(CVT/SCT) = 7.81 × 10(-19) × T(2.61) exp[(2704.2/T) (in cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)). These calculated rates are in very good agreement with those from available experiments.

Theory of vibronic interactions in D2 and H2: a comparison between multichannel-quantum-defect and coupled-equation approaches.

New experimental energy levels for the 2pπC(1)Π(u)(-) state of D(2) are reported extending up to the dissociation limit and including rotational quantum numbers up to N = 10. These data are extracted from recent high resolution optical emission spectra, and they are used for a detailed comparison of two theoretical approaches, both of which are fully ab initio and are based on the same state-of-the-art clamped-nuclei potential energy curves. These are the coupled differential equations (CE) and the multichannel quantum defect theory (MQDT) approaches, each of which accounts for adiabatic corrections and non-adiabatic couplings. Both theoretical approaches reproduce the experimental levels to within a fraction of a wavenumber unit (cm(-1)) for the lower vibrational quantum numbers, with the MQDT surpassing the CE method. As the dissociation limit is approached, the residuals observed-calculated increase up to several cm(-1) and the MQDT method is up to a factor of two less accurate than the CE method. The same analysis is carried out with existing data for the H(2) isotopomer and yields similar results. An analogous comparison is also made for the 3pπD(1)Π(u)(-) and 4pπD('1)Π(u)(-) states for both isotopomers, where the MQDT is found to be superior to the CE approach.

Synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet radiation studies of the D (1)Π(u) state of H(2).

The 3pπD (1)Π(u) state of the H(2) molecule was reinvestigated with different techniques at two synchrotron installations. The Fourier transform spectrometer in the vacuum ultraviolet wavelength range of the DESIRS beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron was used for recording absorption spectra of the D (1)Π(u) state at high resolution and high absolute accuracy, limited only by the Doppler contribution at 100 K. From these measurements, line positions were extracted, in particular, for the narrow resonances involving (1)Π(u) (-) states, with an accuracy estimated at 0.06 cm(-1). The new data also closely match multichannel quantum defect calculations performed for the Π(-) components observed via the narrow Q-lines. The Λ-doubling in the D (1)Π(u) state was determined up to v=17. The 10 m normal incidence scanning monochromator at the beamline U125/2 of the BESSY II synchrotron, combined with a home-built target chamber and equipped with a variety of detectors, was used to unravel information on ionization, dissociation, and intramolecular fluorescence decay for the D (1)Π(u) vibrational series. The combined results yield accurate information on the characteristic Beutler-Fano profiles associated with the strongly predissociated Π(u) (+) parity components of the D (1)Π(u) levels. Values for the parameters describing the predissociation width as well as the Fano-q line shape parameters for the J=1 and J=2 rotational states were determined for the sequence of vibrational quantum numbers up to v=17.

HD as a probe for detecting mass variation on a cosmological time scale.

The strong electronic absorption systems of the B1 Sigma u+-X1 Sigma g+ Lyman and the C1Pi u-X1 Sigma g+ Werner bands can be used to probe possible mass-variation effects on a cosmological time scale from spectra observed at high redshift, not only in H2 but also in the second most abundant hydrogen isotopomer HD. High resolution laboratory determination of the most prominent HD lines at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths is performed at an accuracy of delta lambda/lambda approximately 5 x 10(-8), forming a database for comparison with astrophysical data. Sensitivity coefficients Ki = d ln lambda i/d ln mu are determined for HD from quantum ab initio calculations as a function of the proton-electron mass ratio mu. Strategies to deduce possible effects beyond first-order baryon/lepton mass ratio deviations are discussed.

Quasi-classical trajectory study of Si+O2-->SiO+O reaction.

Quasi-classical trajectory calculations for the Si(3P)+O2(X 3Sigmag-)-->SiO(X 1Sigma+)+O(1D) reaction have been carried out using the analytical ground 1A' potential energy surface (PES) recently reported by Dayou and Spielfiedel [J. Chem. Phys. 119, 4237 (2003)]. The reaction has been studied for a wide range of collision energies (0.005-0.6 eV) with O2 in its ground rovibrational state. The barrierless PES leads to a decrease of the total reaction cross section with increasing collision energy. It has been brought to evidence that the reaction proceeds through different reaction mechanisms whose contributions to reactivity are highly dependent on the collision energy range. At low collision energy an abstraction mechanism occurs involving the collinear SiOO potential well. The associated short-lived intermediate complex leads to an inverted vibrational distribution peaked at v'=3 and low rotational excitation of SiO(v',j') with a preferentially backward scattering. At higher energies the reaction proceeds mainly through an insertion mechanism involving the bent and linear OSiO deep potential wells and associated long-lived intermediate complexes, giving rise to nearly statistical energy disposals into the product modes and a forward-backward symmetry of the differential cross section.