Intersystem crossing in the entrance channel of the reaction of O(3P) with pyridine

Two quantum effects can enable reactions to take place at energies below the barrier separating reactants from products: tunnelling and intersystem crossing between coupled potential energy surfaces. Here we show that intersystem crossing in the region between the pre-reactive complex and the reaction barrier can control the rate of bimolecular reactions for weakly coupled potential energy surfaces, even in the absence of heavy atoms. For O( 3 P) plus pyridine, a reaction relevant to combustion, astrochemistry and biochemistry, crossed-beam experiments indicate that the dominant products are pyrrole and CO, obtained through a spin-forbidden ring-contraction mechanism. The experimental findings are interpreted—by high-level quantum-chemical calculations and statistical non-adiabatic computations of branching fractions—in terms of an efficient intersystem crossing occurring before the high entrance barrier for O-atom addition to the N-atom lone pair. At low to moderate temperatures, the computed reaction rates prove to be dominated by intersystem crossing. Intersystem crossing in reaction entrance channels usually arises from ‘heavy-atom’ effects. Now molecular-beam experiments show that even without heavy atoms, the O( 3 P) + pyridine reaction leads to spin-forbidden pyrrole + CO products. Theoretical calculations reveal efficient intersystem crossing before the entrance barrier for O-atom addition to the N-atom lone pair, which dominates reactivity at low to moderate temperatures.