| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Nunez-Reyes, Dianailys
;
Hickson, Kevin M.
;
Loison, Jean-Christophe
;
Spada, Rene F. K.
;
Vichietti, Rafael M.
;
Machado, Francisco B. C.
;
Haiduke, Roberto L. A.
Total Authors: 7
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Journal of Physical Chemistry A; v. 124, n. 51, p. 9-pg., 2020-12-24. |
| Abstract | |
The rates of numerous activated reactions between neutral species increase at low temperatures through quantum mechanical tunneling of light hydrogen atoms. Although tunneling processes involving molecules or heavy atoms are well known in the condensed phase, analogous gas-phase processes have never been demonstrated experimentally. Here, we studied the activated CH + CO2 -> HCO + CO reaction in a supersonic flow reactor, measuring rate constants that increase rapidly below 100 K. Mechanistically, tunneling is shown to occur by CH insertion into the C-O bond, with rate calculations accurately reproducing the experimental values. To exclude the possibility of H-atom tunneling, CD was used in additional experiments and calculations. Surprisingly, the equivalent CD + CO2 reaction accelerates at low temperature as zero-point energy effects remove the barrier to product formation. In conclusion, heavy-particle tunneling effects might be responsible for the observed reactivity increase at lower temperatures for the CH + CO2 reaction, while the equivalent effect for the CD + CO2 reaction results instead from a submerged barrier with respect to reactants. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 19/25105-6 - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's): doping, vacancy, reactivity, excited states: a multiconfigurational approach |
| Grantee: | Francisco Bolivar Correto Machado |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| FAPESP's process: | 14/23714-1 - Electronic structure relativistic calculations for evaluation of new prolapse-free basis sets |
| Grantee: | Roberto Luiz Andrade Haiduke |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| FAPESP's process: | 18/05691-5 - Application of quantum chemistry methods in the study of possible routes for formation of small molecular systems in different astrophysical environments |
| Grantee: | Rafael Mario Vichietti |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral |
| FAPESP's process: | 19/07671-4 - Theoretical study of molecules in astrophysical environments |
| Grantee: | Rene Felipe Keidel Spada |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |