Daiqian Xie

Observation of Feshbach resonances in the F + H2 --> HF + H reaction.

Reaction resonances, or transiently stabilized transition-state structures, have proven highly challenging to capture experimentally. Here, we used the highly sensitive H atom Rydberg tagging time-of-flight method to conduct a crossed molecular beam scattering study of the F + H2 → HF + H reaction with full quantum-state resolution. Pronounced forward-scattered HF products in the v′ = 2 vibrational state were clearly observed at a collision energy of 0.52 kcal/mol; this was attributed to both the ground and the first excited Feshbach resonances trapped in the peculiar HF(v′ = 3)-H′ vibrationally adiabatic potential, with substantial enhancement by constructive interference between the two resonances.

Communication: A chemically accurate global potential energy surface for the HO + CO → H + CO2 reaction

We report a chemically accurate global potential energy surface for the HOCO system based on high-level ab initio calculations at ~35,000 points. The potential energy surface is shown to reproduce important stationary points and minimum energy paths. Quasi-classical trajectory calculations indicated a good agreement with experimental data.

The Extent of Non–Born-Oppenheimer Coupling in the Reaction of Cl(2P) with para-H2

Elementary triatomic reactions offer a compelling test of our understanding of the extent of electron-nuclear coupling in chemical reactions, which is neglected in the widely applied Born-Oppenheimer (BO) approximation. The BO approximation predicts that in reactions between chlorine (Cl) atoms and molecular hydrogen, the excited spin-orbit state (Cl*) should not participate to a notable extent. We report molecular beam experiments, based on hydrogen-atom Rydberg tagging detection, that reveal only a minor role of Cl*. These results are in excellent agreement with fully quantum-reactive scattering calculations based on two sets of ab initio potential energy surfaces. This study resolves a previous disagreement between theory and experiment and confirms our ability to simulate accurately chemical reactions on multiple potential energy surfaces.

High-Level, First-Principles, Full-Dimensional Quantum Calculation of the Ro-vibrational Spectrum of the Simplest Criegee Intermediate (CH2OO).

The ro-vibrational spectrum of the simplest Criegee intermediate (CH2OO) has been determined quantum mechanically based on nine-dimensional potential energy and dipole surfaces for its ground electronic state. The potential energy surface is fitted to more than 50 000 high-level ab initio points with a root-mean-square error of 25 cm(-1), using a recently proposed permutation invariant polynomial neural network method. The calculated rotational constants, vibrational frequencies, and spectral intensities of CH2OO are in excellent agreement with experiment. The potential energy surface provides a valuable platform for studying highly excited vibrational and unimolecular reaction dynamics of this important molecule.

Enhancing dissociative chemisorption of H2O on Cu(111) via vibrational excitation

The dissociative chemisorption of water is an important step in many heterogeneous catalytic processes. Here, the mode selectivity of this process was examined quantum mechanically on a realistic potential energy surface determined by fitting planewave density functional calculations spanning a large configuration space. The quantum dynamics of the surface reaction were characterized by a six-dimensional model including all important internal coordinates of H2O and its distance to the surface. It was found that excitations in all three vibrational modes are capable of enhancing reactivity more effectively than increasing translational energy, consistent with the “late” transition state in the reaction path.

Vibronic origin of sulfur mass-independent isotope effect in photoexcitation of SO2 and the implications to the early earth’s atmosphere

Signatures of mass-independent isotope fractionation (MIF) are found in the oxygen (16O,17O,18O) and sulfur (32S, 33S, 34S, 36S) isotope systems and serve as important tracers of past and present atmospheric processes. These unique isotope signatures signify the breakdown of the traditional theory of isotope fractionation, but the physical chemistry of these isotope effects remains poorly understood. We report the production of large sulfur isotope MIF, with Δ33S up to 78‰ and Δ36S up to 110‰, from the broadband excitation of SO2 in the 250–350-nm absorption region. Acetylene is used to selectively trap the triplet-state SO2 (3B1), which results from intersystem crossing from the excited singlet (1A2/1B1) states. The observed MIF signature differs considerably from that predicted by isotopologue-specific absorption cross-sections of SO2 and is insensitive to the wavelength region of excitation (above or below 300 nm), suggesting that the MIF originates not from the initial excitation of SO2 to the singlet states but from an isotope selective spin–orbit interaction between the singlet (1A2/1B1) and triplet (3B1) manifolds. Calculations based on high-level potential energy surfaces of the multiple excited states show a considerable lifetime anomaly for 33SO2 and 36SO2 for the low vibrational levels of the 1A2 state. These results demonstrate that the isotope selectivity of accidental near-resonance interactions between states is of critical importance in understanding the origin of MIF in photochemical systems.

AB INITIO POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACE AND ROVIBRATIONAL SPECTRA OF HE-CO2

The potential energy surface for the He–CO2 van der Waals complex is calculated using the fourth-order Moller–Plesset (MP4) perturbation theory with a large basis set containing bond functions. The interaction energies are obtained by the supermolecular approach with the full counterpoise correction for the basis set superposition error. The MP4 interaction energies are then fitted to an exponential-spline-Morse–Morse-spline-van der Waals potential form. The ab initio potential energy surface contains two local minima corresponding to the T-shaped and linear structures. The T-shaped minimum is the global minimum with the well depth of 44.41 cm−1 at R(He–C)=3.10 A. The linear minimum has a well depth of 27.69 cm−1 at R(He–C)=4.26 A. A potential barrier that separates the two minima is located at R(He–C)=4.10 A and θ=39° with a height of 19.81 cm−1. The rovibrational energy levels of He–CO2 with CO2 at its ground state and υ3 excited state are calculated using the vibrational self-consistent field configura...

Mode selectivity in methane dissociative chemisorption on Ni(111)

Dissociative chemisorption of CH4 on transition-metal surfaces, representing the rate-limiting step in methane steam reforming, has been shown experimentally to be strongly mode selective. To understand the mode selectivity, a twelve-dimensional global potential energy surface is developed for CH4 interacting with a rigid Ni(111) surface based on a large number of density functional theory points. The reaction dynamics is investigated using an eight-dimensional quantum model, which includes representatives of all four vibrational modes of methane. After correcting for surface effects, key experimental observations, including the mode selectivity, are well reproduced. These theoretical results, along with mechanistic analysis, provide insights into this industrially important heterogeneous reaction.

Revealing atom-radical reactivity at low temperature through the N + OH reaction.

Rates have been measured for a chemical transformation of interstellar interest in which both reagents are unstable. More than 100 reactions between stable molecules and free radicals have been shown to remain rapid at low temperatures. In contrast, reactions between two unstable radicals have received much less attention due to the added complexity of producing and measuring excess radical concentrations. We performed kinetic experiments on the barrierless N(4S) + OH(2Π) → H(2S) + NO(2Π) reaction in a supersonic flow (Laval nozzle) reactor. We used a microwave-discharge method to generate atomic nitrogen and a relative-rate method to follow the reaction kinetics. The measured rates agreed well with the results of exact and approximate quantum mechanical calculations. These results also provide insight into the gas-phase formation mechanisms of molecular nitrogen in interstellar clouds.

Accurate quantum mechanical calculations of differential and integral cross sections and rate constant for the O+OH reaction using an ab initio potential energy surface

The authors report accurate quantum mechanical studies of the O+OH reaction on the improved Xu-Xie-Zhang-Lin-Guo potential energy surface. The differential cross section was obtained at several energies near the reaction threshold using a time-independent method. The dominant forward and backward peaks in the angular distribution are consistent with a complex-forming mechanism, which is also confirmed by the extensive rotational excitation in the O2 product. However, the asymmetry of these peaks suggests a significant nonstatistical component. The initial state (upsilon i=0, j i=0) specified integral cross section, which was calculated up to 1.15 eV of collision energy using the Chebyshev wave packet method, shows no energy threshold and decreases with the increasing collision energy, consistent with the barrierless nature of the reaction. The resulting rate constant exhibits a negative temperature dependence for T>100 K and decays as the temperature is lowered, in qualitative agreement with available experimental data.