Ab initio study of the atmospheric oxidation of CS2

Spectroscopic Characterization of HSO2• and HOSO• Intermediates Involved in SO2 Geoengineering

Sulfur-containing radicals HSO₂^• and HOSO^• are key intermediates involved in stratospheric sulfur geoengineering by SO₂ injection. The spectroscopic characterization and photochemistry of both radicals are crucial to understanding the chemical impact of SO₂ chemistry in the stratosphere. On the basis of the efficient generation of HOSO^• by flash pyrolysis of gaseous sulfinic acid, CHF₂S(O)OH, a strong absorption is observed at 270 nm along with a shoulder up to 350 nm for HOSO^• isolated in low-temperature noble gas matrixes (Ar and Ne). These mainly arise from the excitations from the ground state (X²A) to the C²A/D²A and A²A/B²A states, respectively. Upon a 266 nm laser irradiation, the broad absorption band in the range 320-500 nm for HSO₂^• appears, and it corresponds to the combination of three excitations from the X²A state to the first (A²A), second (B²A), and third (C²A) excited states. Assignment of the UV-vis spectra is consistent with the photochemistry of HOSO^• and HSO₂^• as observed by matrix-isolation IR spectroscopy and also by the agreement with high-level ab initio calculations.

Photochemistry and Non-adiabatic Photodynamics of the HOSO Radical

Hydroxysulfinyl radical (HOSO) is important due to its involvement in climate geoengineering upon SO₂ injection and generation of the highly hygroscopic H₂SO₄. Its photochemical behavior in the upper atmosphere is, however, uncertain. Here we present the ultraviolet-visible photochemistry and photodynamics of this species by simulating the atmospheric conditions with high-level quantum chemistry methods. Photocleavage to HO + SO arises as the major solar-induced channel, with a minor contribution of H + SO₂ photoproducts. The efficient generation of SO is relevant due to its reactivity with O₃ and the consequent depletion of ozone in the stratosphere.

Catalytic effect of water and formic acid on the reaction of carbonyl sulfide with dimethyl amine under tropospheric conditions

CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations were performed on the addition of amines [i.e. ammonia (NH₃), methyl amine (MA), and dimethyl amine (DMA)] to carbonyl sulfide (OCS), followed by transfer of the amine H-atom to either the S-atom or O-atom of OCS, assisted by a single water (H₂O) or a formic acid (FA) molecule, leading to the formation of the corresponding carbamothioic S- or O acids. For the OCS + NH₃ and OCS + MA reactions with or without the H₂O or FA, very high barriers were observed, making these reactions unfeasible. Interestingly, the barrier heights for the OCS + DMA reaction, involving H-atom transfer to either the S-atom or O-atom of OCS and assisted by a FA, were found to be -4.2 kcal mol^-1 and -3.9 kcal mol^-1, respectively, relative to those of the separated reactants. The barrier height values suggest that FA lowers the reaction barriers by ∼28.4 kcal mol^-1 and ∼35.9 kcal mol^-1 compared to the OCS + DMA reaction without the catalyst. Rate coefficient calculations were performed on the OCS + DMA reaction both without a catalyst, and assisted by a H₂O and a FA molecule using canonical variational transition state theory and small curvature tunneling at the temperatures between 200 and 300 K. The rate data show that the OCS + DMA + FA reaction proceeds through H-atom transfer to the S-atom of OCS, which was found to be ∼10³-10¹¹ and 10³-10¹⁰ times faster than the OCS + DMA and OCS + DMA + H₂O reactions, respectively, in the studied temperature range. For the same temperature range, the rate of the OCS + DMA + FA reaction was found to be ∼10⁸-10¹⁶ and 10³-10¹² times faster than the OCS + DMA and OCS + DMA + H₂O reactions in which H-atom transfer to the O-atom of OCS occurred. This suggests that the OCS + DMA reaction that is assisted by FA is more efficient than the H₂O assisted reaction. In addition, the rate of the OCS + DMA + FA reaction was found to be ∼10¹⁰ times slower than the OCS + ˙OH reaction at 298 K. This clarifies that the OCS + DMA + FA reaction may be feasible for the atmospheric removal of OCS under night-time forest fire conditions when the OCS and DMA concentrations are high and the ˙OH concentration is low.

An accurate full-dimensional potential energy surface for the reaction OH + SO → H + SO2

An accurate full-dimensional PES for the OH + SO ↔ H + SO₂ reaction is developed by the permutation invariant polynomial-neural network approach.

A New Mechanism of Acid Rain Generation from HOSO at the Air-Water Interface

The photochemistry of SO₂ at the air-water interface of water droplets leads to the formation of HOSO radicals. Using first-principles simulations, we show that HOSO displays an unforeseen strong acidity (pK_a = -1) comparable with that of nitric acid and is fully dissociated at the air-water interface. Accordingly, this radical might play an important role in acid rain formation. Potential implications are discussed.

The OH-Initiated Oxidation of CS2 in the Presence of NO: FTIR Matrix-Isolation and Theoretical Studies

We studied the photochemistry of the carbon disulfide-nitrous acid system with the help of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) matrix isolation spectroscopy and theoretical methods. The irradiation of the CS2···HONO complexes, isolated in solid argon, with the filtered output of the mercury lamp (λ > 345 nm) was found to produce OCS, SO2, and HNCS; HSCN was also tentatively identified. The (13)C, (15)N, and (2)H isotopic shifts as well as literature data were used for product identifications. The evolution of the measured FTIR spectra with irradiation time and the changes in the spectra after matrix annealing indicated that the identified molecules are the products of different reaction channels: OCS being a product of another reaction path than SO2 and HNCS or HSCN. The possible reaction channels between SC(OH)S/SCS(OH) radicals and NO were studied using DFT/B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ method. The SC(OH)S and/or SCS(OH) intermediates are formed when HONO attached to CS2 photodissociates into OH and NO. The calculations indicated that SC(OH)S radical can form with NO two stable adducts. The more stable SC(OH)S···NO structure is a reactant for a simple one-step process leading to OCS and HONS molecules. An alternative, less-stable complex formed between SC(OH)S and NO leads to formation of OCS and HSNO. The calculations predict only one stable complex between SCS(OH) radical and NO, which can dissociate along two channels leading to HNCS and SO2 or HSCN and SO2 as the end products. The identified photoproducts indicate that both SC(OH)S and SCS(OH) adducts are intermediates in the CS2 + OH + NO reaction leading to different reaction products.

In search of CS2(H2O)n=1–4 clusters

Gaussian-3 and MP2/aug-cc-pVnZ methods have been used to calculate geometries and thermochemistry of CS(2)(H2O)n, where n=1-4. An extensive molecular dynamics search followed by optimization using these two methods located two dimers, six trimers, six tetramers, and two pentamers. The MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ structure matched best with the experimental result for the CS(2)(H2O) dimer, showing that diffuse functions are necessary to model the interactions found in this complex. For larger CS(2)(H2O)n clusters, the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ minima are significantly different from the MP2(full)6-31G* structures, revealing that the G3 model chemistry is not suitable for investigation of sulfur containing van der Waals complexes. Based on the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ free energies, the concentration of saturated water in the atmosphere and the average amount of CS(2) in the atmosphere, the concentrations of these clusters are predicted to be on the order of 10(5) CS(2)(H2O) clusters.cm(-3) and 10(2) CS(2)(H2O)(2) clusters.cm(-3) at 298.15 K. The MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ scaled harmonic and anharmonic frequencies of the most abundant dimer cluster at 298 K are presented, along with the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ scaled harmonic frequencies for the CS(2)(H(2)O)(n) structures predicted to be present in a low-temperature molecular beam experiment.

Direct Experimental Observation of CS2OH

The first experimental detection of CS(2)OH is reported. CS(2)OH was observed for about one microsecond after its formation, as an intact isolated species in the gas phase. It was generated by electron transfer to the CS(2)OH(+) ion, prepared in the source of a multisector mass spectrometer by suitable ion-molecule reactions. The vertical formation process allowed characterization of CS(2)OH by structural analysis of CS(2)OH(+). Theoretical calculations were performed at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,p) and CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,p) levels of theory. The computed structure and stability of CS(2)OH and CS(2)OH(+) as well as the energetics of the involved processes satisfactorily fit with the experimental results.

Global Mapping of Equilibrium and Transition Structures on Potential Energy Surfaces by the Scaled Hypersphere Search Method: Applications to ab Initio Surfaces of Formaldehyde and Propyne Molecules

Technical details of a new global mapping technique for finding equilibrium (EQ) and transition structures (TS) on potential energy surfaces (PES), the scaled hypersphere search (SHS) method (Ohno, K.; Maeda, S. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2004, 384, 277), are presented. On the basis of a simple principle that reaction pathways are found as anharmonic downward distortions of PES around an EQ point, the reaction pathways can be obtained as energy minima on the scaled hypersphere surface, which would have a constant energy when the potentials are harmonic. Connections of SHS paths between each EQ are very similar to corresponding intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) connections. The energy maximum along the SHS path reaches a region in close proximity to the TS of the reaction pathway, and the subsequent geometry optimization from the SHS maximum structure easily converges to the TS. The SHS method, using the one-after-another algorithm connecting EQ and TS, considerably reduces the multidimensional space to be searched to certain limited regions around the pathways connecting each EQ with the neighboring TS. Applications of the SHS method have been made to ab initio surfaces of formaldehyde and propyne molecules to obtain systematically five EQ and nine TS for formaldehyde and seven EQ and 32 TS for propyne.