The association reaction between C2H and 1-butyne: a computational chemical kinetics study

Abstract

The potential energy surfaces (PES) for the reaction of the C₂H radical with 1-butyne (C₄H₆) have been studied using the CBS-QB3 method. Density functional B3LYP/cc-pVTZ and M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) calculations have also been performed to analyze the reaction energetics. For detailed theoretical calculation on the total reaction mechanism, the initial association reactions on more and less substituted C atoms of 1-butyne are treated separately followed by a variational transition state theory (VTST) calculation to obtain reaction rates. The successive unimolecular reactions from the association reaction complexes are subjected to Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM) calculations for reaction rate constants and product branching ratios. The calculated rate constants in the temperature range 70–295 K for both the association reactions are found to be highly temperature dependent at low temperatures, which is contrary to the experimental findings of temperature independent association rates. We have explained this observation with the help of variational nature of the transition states, and we found a “loose” transition state at low temperatures. The calculated product branching ratios for the unimolecular reactions generally agree with the available experimental data, although some channels show a significant method dependency and therefore the correlation with experiment is lost to some extent. Our detailed reaction energetics calculations confirm that the C₂H + C₄H₆ reaction proceeds without an entrance barrier and leads to the important products ethynylallene + CH₃, 1,3-hexadiyne + H, 3,4-hexadiene-1-yne + H, 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene + H, 3,4-dimethylenecyclobut-1-ene + H and fulvene + H exothermic by 25–75 kcal mol⁻¹, with strong dependence of the product distribution on the association mode of C₂H with C₄H₆, making these reactions fast under low temperature conditions of Titan's atmosphere. Therefore this study can provide a detailed picture of the complex hydrocarbon formation mechanism in the upper atmosphere.