The Role of Intramolecular Energy Fow and Nonadiabaticity in Vibrationally Mediated Chemistry: Wavepacket Studies of Cl + H2O

Published

January 1, 2002

Author(s)

J R. Fair, D Schaefer, R Kosloff, David Nesbitt

Abstract

Time-dependent and time-independent quantum scattering methods are used to investigate state-to-state inelastic and reactive collision dynamicsfor a three-dimensional (3D) atom + triatom model of Cl + H₂O -> Chl + OH. The results elucidate the role of (i) intramolecular vibrational energy transferand (ii) vibrational nonadiabaticity on the timescale of a reactive encounter in systems with nearly degenerate stretching local modes. Adiabatic two-dimensional (2D) vibrational eigenfunctions [dielectric flux}_n(r₁,R₂R)] and eignevaleus [E_n(R)] are first obtained in OH bond coordinates (r₁r₂) as a function of Cl-H₂O center-of-mass separation (R). This in turn provides the requisite adiabatic potential energy curves, and nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements for full 3D quantum wave packet propagation. Inspection of these 2D vibrational eigenfunctions indicates that near degeneracy between H₂O symmetric [^01+^> and antisymmetric [^{/ 01-}> states is systematically lifted as R decreases, causing vibrational energy to flow into local-mode OH excitations pointing either toward (proximal) or away from (distal) the approaching Cl atom, respectively. This suggests a simple vet powerful physical model for mode-specific reactive scattering dynamics, the pridictions of which are confirmed by full 3D quantum wave packet calculations over a range of collision velocities.

Citation

Journal of Chemical Physics

Volume

116

Issue

No. 4

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

adiabatic vibrational wavefunctions, intramolecular vibrational redistributio, quantum wavepackets

Citation

Fair, J. , Schaefer, D. , Kosloff, R. and Nesbitt, D. (2002), The Role of Intramolecular Energy Fow and Nonadiabaticity in Vibrationally Mediated Chemistry: Wavepacket Studies of Cl + H₂O, Journal of Chemical Physics (Accessed October 12, 2024)