Reaction mechanisms and kinetics of the O-2 addition pathways to the main thiophene-OH adduct: a theoretical study

Density functional theory, along with the ωB97XD and UM06-2x exchange-correlation functional, has been used to study the reaction mechanisms and kinetics of the atmospheric oxidation of the main (kinetically dominant) thiophene-OH adduct [C4H4S-OH]• (R1) by molecular oxygen in its triplet electronic ground state. Kinetic rate constants and branching ratios under atmospheric pressure and in the fall-off regime have been calculated by means of transition state theory (TST), variational transition state theory (VTST) and statistical Rice−Ramsperger−Kassel−Marcus (RRKM) theory. In line with the computed energy profiles, the dominant process under both the thermodynamic and kinetic control of the reaction is O2 addition at the C5 position in syn mode. The computed branching ratios indicate that the regioselectivity of the reaction decreases with increasing temperature and decreasing pressure.

Publication year:2016

Keywords:thiophene, hydrogen bonding, natural bond orbital analysis, chemical kinetics, reaction mechanisms, RRKM theory

BOF-keylabel:yes

IOF-keylabel:yes

BOF-publication weight:0.1

CSS-citation score:1

Authors:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Open