The CH(X 2 Π) + H 2 O reaction: two transition state kinetics

The reaction of ground state methylidyne (CH) with water vapor (H 2 O) is theoretically re-investigated using high-level coupled cluster computations in combination with semi-classical transition state theory (SCTST) and two-dimensional master equation simulations. Insertion of CH into a H–O bond of H 2 O over a submerged barrier via a well-skipping mechanism yielding solely H and CH 2 O is characterized. The reaction kinetics is effectively determined by the formation of a pre-reaction van der Waals complex (PRC, HC—OH 2 ) and its subsequent isomerization to activated CH 2 OH in competition with PRC re-dissociation. The tunneling effects are found to be minor, while variational effects in the PRC → CH 2 OH step are negligible. The calculated rate coefficient k ( T ) is nearly pressure-independent, but strongly depends on temperature with pronounced down-up behavior: a high value of 2 × 10 −10 cm 3 s −1 at 50 K, followed by a fairly steep decrease down to 8 × 10 −12 cm 3 s −1 at 900 K, but increasing again to 5 × 10 −11 cm 3 s −1 at 3500 K. Over the T -range of this work, k ( T ) can be expressed as: k ( T , P = 0) = 2.31 × 10 −11 ( T /300 K) −1.615 exp(−38.45/ T ) cm 3 s −1 for T = 50–400 K k ( T , P = 0) = 1.15 × 10 −12 ( T /300 K) 0.8637 exp(892.6/ T ) cm 3 s −1 for T = 400–1000 K k ( T , P = 0) = 4.57 × 10 −15 ( T /300 K) 3.375 exp(3477.4/ T ) cm 3 s −1 for T = 1000–3500 K.