Dynamics and resonances of the H(2S) + CH+(X1Σ+) reaction in the electronic ground state: a detailed quantum wavepacket study

Abstract

Initial state-selected and energy resolved channel-specific reaction probabilities, integral cross sections and thermal rate constants of the H(²S) + CH⁺(X¹Σ⁺) reaction are calculated within the coupled states approximation by a time-dependent wave packet propagation method. The new ab initio global potential energy surface (PES) of the electronic ground state (1 ²A′) of the system, recently reported by Li et al. [J. Chem. Phys., 2015, 142, 124302], is employed for this purpose. All partial wave contributions up to the total angular momentum J = 60 are considered to obtain the converged integral reaction cross section up to a collision energy of 1.0 eV. Thermal rate constants are calculated by averaging the reaction cross sections over the Boltzmann distribution of energies and compared with the available theoretical and experimental results for the temperature range 10–1000 K. Investigation of the channel-specific reaction attributes shows that the H abstraction (CH⁺ destruction) channel is highly favored over the H exchange channel. The effect of rotational and vibrational excitations of the CH⁺ reagent on the dynamics is also studied. The resonances formed during the course of the reaction are also identified by calculating the transition state spectrum and characterized in terms of the eigenfunctions and lifetimes. More than 260 vibrational levels are obtained and their eigenfunctions are calculated, which are represented in terms of the nodal assignments and the eigenenergies. They reveal both the local and hyperspherical behavior for the bound and quasibound states of the CH₂⁺ complex in the ground 1 ²A′ surface. The lifetime analysis of the quasibound states indicates that the CH₂⁺ resonances survive for as long as ∼400 fs at high energies (E ∼ 2.0 eV) and are expected to decay faster with further increasing energy. Finally, the type of mechanism for the formation of the product (C⁺ + H₂) is elucidated.