Quantum interference in H + HD → H2 + D between direct abstraction and roaming insertion pathways

Understanding quantum interferences is essential to the study of chemical reaction dynamics. Here, we provide an interesting case of quantum interference between two topologically distinct pathways in the H + HD → H2 + D reaction in the collision energy range between 1.94 and 2.21 eV, manifested as oscillations in the energy dependence of the differential cross section for the H2 (v′ = 2, j′ = 3) product (where v′ is the vibrational quantum number and j′ is the rotational quantum number) in the backward scattering direction. The notable oscillation patterns observed are attributed to the strong quantum interference between the direct abstraction pathway and an unusual roaming insertion pathway. More interestingly, the observed interference pattern also provides a sensitive probe of the geometric phase effect at an energy far below the conical intersection in this reaction, which resembles the Aharonov–Bohm effect in physics, clearly demonstrating the quantum nature of chemical reactivity.

Extremely short-lived reaction resonances in Cl + HD (v = 1) → DCl + H due to chemical bond softening

The Cl + H2 reaction is an important benchmark system in the study of chemical reaction dynamics that has always appeared to proceed via a direct abstraction mechanism, with no clear signature of reaction resonances. Here we report a high-resolution crossed–molecular beam study on the Cl + HD (v = 1, j = 0) → DCl + H reaction (where v is the vibrational quantum number and j is the rotational quantum number). Very few forward scattered products were observed. However, two distinctive peaks at collision energies of 2.4 and 4.3 kilocalories per mole for the DCl (v′ = 1) product were detected in the backward scattering direction. Detailed quantum dynamics calculations on a highly accurate potential energy surface suggested that these features originate from two very short-lived dynamical resonances trapped in the peculiar H-DCl (v′ = 2) vibrational adiabatic potential wells that result from chemical bond softening. We anticipate that dynamical resonances trapped in such wells exist in many reactions involving vibrationally excited molecules.

Oxidation of secondary alcohols and ethers by dimethyldioxirane

The oxidation of several series of secondary alcohols 2-9, ethers 10-17, and related derivatives 18 and19, by dimethyldioxirane, 1, in acetone at 25°C produced the corresponding ketones in good to excellent yields for all but two cases. (The exceptions: oxidation of 1-methoxy-2-methyl-1-phenylpropane (48%) and 1-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl-1-phenylpropane (24%).) The oxidation of the secondary alcohols was found to yield k2 values that were roughly 10-fold greater than those of the corresponding methyl ethers. The rate constant for oxidation of a silyl ether was slightly lower than that for the corresponding methyl ether while that for the ester derivative was roughly half the value. For oxidation of alcohols and methyl ethers, the k2 values became smaller as the R " series (Me, Et, nPr, iPr, and tBu) increased in steric bulk (ρ* = 1.7; r = 0.998 and ρ* = 3.2; r = 0.95, respectively). The Hammett study for the oxidation of the methyl ethers of α-methyl-p-benzyl alcohols (10, 20-25) yielded a ρ value of -0.74. The activation parameters for oxidation of the parent compound of the ether series (1-methoxy-1-phenylethane) were ΔH‡ = 14.8 ± 0.5 kcal/mol, ΔS‡ = -21.9 eu, ΔG‡ = 21.3 kcal/mol, k2 (25°C) = 1.6 × 10-3 M-1 s-1. The mechanistic aspects of the oxidation are discussed in relation to two mechanistic extremes: (a) direct insertion of the oxygen atom into the C—H bond and (b) direct abstraction of the H by dimethyldioxirane to yield a caged-radical pair, with subsequent coupling to hemi-ketal intermediates that fragment to yield acetone, alcohol or water, and ketone as the final products.Key words: dimethyldioxirane, oxidation.

The Role of H in the Growth Mechanism of PECVD a-Si:H

This paper describes an extension of the silyl radical based kinetic growth model by atomic hydrogen induced surface hydrogen abstraction processes. It is shown that by including this direct abstraction process several problems of the SiH 3 based model are resolved. The defect density can be predicted with the proper temperature dependence and order of magnitude. The implications for high rate deposition of a-Si:H are discussed

What is Type-Safe Code Reuse?

<p>Subclassing is reuse of class definitions. It is usually tied to the use of class names, thus relying on the order in which the particular classes in a program are created. This is a burden, however, both when programming and in theoretical studies.</p><p> </p><p>This paper presents a structural notion of subclassing for typed languages. It is a direct abstraction of the SMALLTALK interpreter and the separate compilation technique of MODULA. We argue that it is the most general mechanism which can be supported by the implementation while relying on the type-correctness of superclasses. In short, it captures type-safe code reuse.</p>