The structure of NH3–acetylene

Ab initio kinetics of the C2H2 + NH2 reaction: a revisited study

This work provides a rigorous detailed kinetic study on the C₂H₂ + NH₂ reaction in a wide range of conditions (T = 250-2000 K & P = 1-76000 Torr). In particular, the composite method W1U was used to construct the potential energy surface on which the kinetic behaviors were characterized within the state-of-the-art master equation/Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (ME/RRKM) framework. Corrections of the hindered internal rotation (HIR) treatment and quantum tunneling effect were included. A clear reaction mechanism shift with respect to both temperature and pressure was revealed via detailed kinetic and species analyses. In particular, bimolecular products (i.e., CH₂[double bond, length as m-dash]C[double bond, length as m-dash]NH + H, CH[triple bond, length as m-dash]CNH₂ + H, CH₃CN + H, CH[triple bond, length as m-dash]C· + NH₃ in the decreasing mole fraction order) can be formed directly from the reactants at high temperature and/or low pressure while they can be produced indirectly via intermediates (e.g., ·CH[double bond, length as m-dash]CHNH₂(cis), ·CH[double bond, length as m-dash]CHNH₂(trans), CH₂[double bond, length as m-dash]C·NH₂,…) at low temperature and/or high pressure. The calculated rate constants are in good agreement with the literature data from ab initio calculations without any adjustment; thus, the proposed temperature- and pressure-dependent rate constants, together with the thermodynamic data of the species involved, can be confidently used for modeling NH₂-related systems under atmospheric and combustion conditions.

Effects of a remote binding partner on the electric field and electric field gradient at an atom in a weakly bound trimer

Microwave spectra are reported for the C3v symmetric complexes Kr-SO3 and Kr-SO3-CO. The S-C distance in the trimer, 2.871(9) Å, is the same as that previously determined for SO3-CO to within the estimated uncertainties. The Kr-S distances are 3.438(3) Å and 3.488(6) Å in Kr-SO3 and Kr-SO3-CO, respectively, indicating that the addition of CO to Kr-SO3 increases the Kr-S distance by 0.050(9) Å. Measurements of the (83)Kr nuclear quadrupole coupling constants provide direct probes of the electric field gradient at the Kr nucleus, and a comparison between the two systems reflects the degree to which the CO influences the electronic structure of the krypton atom. Although the Kr and CO in the trimer are on opposite sides of the SO3 and thus are not in direct contact, the addition of CO to Kr-SO3 reduces the electric field gradient at the Kr nucleus by 18%. Calculations using the block localized wavefunction decomposition method are performed to understand the physical origins of this change. While the magnitudes of both the electric field and the electric field gradient at the Kr nucleus decrease upon addition of the CO to Kr-SO3, the changes are shown to arise from rather complex combinations of geometrical distortion, electrostatic, polarization, and electron transfer effects. For the electric field, the electrostatic term accounts for the largest portion of the reduction, while for the electric field gradient, polarization and structural change of the Kr-SO3 moiety make the primary contributions. Despite significant changes in the electronic environment at the Kr nucleus, calculated binding energies indicate that the interactions are largely additive, with the binding energy of the trimer very nearly equal to the sum of the Kr-SO3 and SO3-CO binding energies.

Does ammonia hydrogen bond?

Spectroscopic characterizations of the stereochemistry of complexes of ammonia (NH(3)) have strongly confirmed some long-held ideas about the weak interactions of NH(3) while casting doubt on others. As expected, NH(3) is observed to be a nearly universal proton acceptor, accepting hydrogen bonds from even some of the weakest proton donors. Surprisingly, no evidence has been found to support the view that NH(3) acts as a proton donor through hydrogen bonding. A critical evaluation of the work that has been done to gather such evidence, as well as of earlier work involving condensed-phase observations, suggests that NH(3) might well be best described as a powerful hydrogen-bond acceptor with little propensity to donate hydrogen bonds.

Imaging the State-Specific Vibrational Predissociation of the C2H2−NH3Hydrogen-Bonded Dimer

The state-to-state vibrational predissociation (VP) dynamics of the hydrogen-bonded ammonia-acetylene dimer were studied following excitation in the asymmetric CH stretch. Velocity map imaging (VMI) and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) were used to determine pair-correlated product energy distributions. Following vibrational excitation of the asymmetric CH stretch fundamental, ammonia fragments were detected by 2 + 1 REMPI via the B1E'' <-- X1A1' and C'1A1' <-- X1A1' transitions. The fragments' center-of-mass (c.m.) translational energy distributions were determined from images of selected rotational levels of ammonia with one or two quanta in the symmetric bend (nu2 umbrella mode) and were converted to rotational-state distributions of the acetylene co-fragment. The latter is always generated with one or two quanta of bending excitation. All the distributions could be fit well when using a dimer dissociation energy of D0 = 900 +/- 10 cm(-1). Only channels with maximum translational energy <150 cm(-1) are observed. The rotational excitation in the ammonia fragments is modest and can be fit by temperatures of 150 +/- 50 and 50 +/- 20 K for 1nu2 and 2nu2, respectively. The rotational distributions in the acetylene co-fragment pair-correlated with specific rovibrational states of ammonia appear statistical as well. The vibrational-state distributions, however, show distinct state specificity among channels with low translational energy release. The predominant channel is NH3(1nu2) + C2H2(2nu4 or 1nu4 + 1nu5), where nu4 and nu5 are the trans- and cis-bend vibrations of acetylene, respectively. A second observed channel, with much lower population, is NH3(2nu2) + C2H2(1nu4). No products are generated in which the ammonia is in the vibrational ground state or the asymmetric bend (1nu4) state, nor is acetylene ever generated in the ground vibrational state or with CC stretch excitation. The angular momentum (AM) model of McCaffery and Marsh is used to estimate impact parameters in the internal collisions that give rise to the observed rotational distributions. These calculations show that dissociation takes place from bent geometries, which can also explain the propensity to excite fragment bending levels. The low recoil velocities associated with the observed channels facilitate energy exchange in the exit channel, which results in statistical-like fragment rotational distributions.

Microwave Fourier transform spectrum of the water-carbonyl sulfide complex

The microwave spectrum of the water-carbonyl sulfide complex H(2)O-OCS was observed with a pulsed-beam, Fabry-Perot cavity Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer. In addition to the normal isotopic form, we also measured the spectra of H(2)O-S(13)CO, H(2)O-(34)SCO, H(2) (18)O-SCO, D(2)O-SCO, D(2)O-S(13)CO, D(2)O-(34)SCO, HDO-SCO, HDO-S(13)CO, and HDO-(34)SCO. The rotational constants are B = 1522.0115(2) MHz and C = 1514.3302(2) MHz for H(2)O-SCO; B = 1511.9153(5) MHz and C = 1504.3346(5) MHz for H(2)O-S(13)CO; B = 1522.0215(3) MHz and C = 1514.3409(3) MHz for H(2)O-(34)SCO; B = 1435.9571(3) MHz and C = 1429.1296(4) MHz for H(2) (18)O-SCO, B = 1409.6575(5) MHz and C = 1397.9555(5) MHz for D(2)O-SCO; B = 1399.8956(3) MHz and C = 1388.3543(3) MHz for D(2)O-S(13)CO; B = 1409.6741(24) MHz and C = 1397.9775(24) MHz for D(2)O-(34)SCO; (B+C)/2 = 1457.9101(2) MHz for HDO-SCO; (B + C)/2 = 1448.0564(4) MHz for HDO-S(13)CO; and (B+C)/2 = 1457.9418(15) MHz for HDO-(34)SCO, with uncertainties corresponding to one standard deviation. The observed rotational constants for the sulfur-34 complexes are generally higher than those for the corresponding sulfur-32 isotopomers. The heavier isotopomers have smaller effective moments of inertia due to the smaller vibrational amplitude of the (34)S-C vibration (zero point) as compared to the (32)S-C, making the effective O-(34)S bond slightly shorter. Stark effect measurements for H(2)O-SCO give a dipole moment of 8.875(9)x10(-30) C m [2.6679(28) D]. The most probable structure of H(2)O-SCO is near C(2v) planar with the oxygen of water bonded to the sulfur of carbonyl sulfide. The oxygen-sulfur van der Waals bond length is determined to be 3.138(17) A, which is very close to the ab initio value of 3.144 A. The structures of the isoelectronic complexes H(2)O-SCO, H(2)O-CS(2), H(2)O-CO(2), and H(2)O-N(2)O are compared. The first two are linear and the others are T shaped with an O-C/O-N van der Waals bond, i.e., the oxygen of water bonds to the carbon and nitrogen of CO(2) and N(2)O, respectively.

Fourier-Transform Microwave Spectroscopy of the Argon-Diacetylene van der Waals Complex

The rotational spectrum of the argon-diacetylene van der Waals complex, produced in a supersonic molecular beam at 1 K, has been observed with a Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer. We observed 22 a-type rotational transitions with Ka up to 3. Three rotational constants, five centrifugal distortion constants, and one higher-order centrifugal distortion constant were determined precisely by least-squares analysis. The complex is shown to have a planer T-shaped structure with C2v symmetry. The structural analysis provides that the Ar atom is located 3.68 A from the center of mass of diacetylene. Force constants for the van der Waals vibrations were determined from the centrifugal distortion constants. It has been found that this complex has a much steeper and more harmonic intermolecular potential than the argon-acetylene complex. Copyright 1997 Academic Press. Copyright 1997Academic Press