Mechanism and kinetics of the reaction of the 2‐propargyl radical with ammonia

Gas‐phase mechanism and kinetics of the reactions of the 2‐propargyl radical (H2CCCH), an important intermediate in combustion processes, with ammonia were investigated using ab initio molecular orbital theory at the coupled‐cluster CCSD(T)//B3LYP/6‐311++G(3df,2p) method in conjunction with transition state theory (TST), variational transition state theory (VTST), and Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Macus (RRKM) calculations for rate constants. The potential energy surface (PES) constructed shows that the C3H3 + NH3 reaction has four main entrances, including two H‐ion and two addition channels in which the former are energetically more favorable. The H‐ion channels occur via energy barriers of 24 (T0/P2) and 26 kcal/mol (T0/P3) forming loose van de Waals complexes, COM_1 (12 kcal/mol) and COM_2 (14 kcal/mol), respectively. These complexes can easily be decomposed via barrier‐less processes resulting HCCCH3 + NH2 (P2, 14 kcal/mol) and HCCCH3 + NH2 (P3, 15 kcal/mol), respectively. The additional channels occur initially by formation of two intermediate states, H2CCCHNH3 (35 kcal/mol) and H2CC(NH3)CH (37 kcal/mol) via energy barriers of 37 and 40 kcal/mol at T0/1 and T0/5, respectively, followed by isomerization and decomposition yielding 21 different products. These processes are fully depicted in an as‐complete‐as‐possible PES. The rate constants and product branching ratios for the low‐energy channels calculated show that the C3H3 + NH3 reaction is almost pressure‐independent. For the temperature range of 300–2000 K, the HCCCH3 + NH2 is the major product, whereas the minor one, HCCCH3 + NH2, has more contribution when temperature increases. Theoretical results on the mechanism and kinetics of the reaction considered may be helpful for future experiments as well as for understanding the role of the propargyl radical in combustion chemistry.