Free Energy of Non equilibrium Polarization Systems. III. Statistical Mechanics of Homogeneous and Electrode Systems

A statistical mechanical treatment is given for homogeneous and electrochemical systems having nonequilibrium dielectric polarization. A relation between the free energy of these systems and those of related equilibrium ones is deduced, having first been derived in Part II by a dielectric continuum treatment. The results can be applied to calculating polar contributions in the theory of electron transfers and in that of shifts of electronic spectra in condensed media. The effect of differences in polarizability (of a light emitting or absorbing molecule in its initial and final electronic states) on the polar term in the shift is included by a detailed statistical analysis, thereby extending Part II. Throughout, the "particle" description of the entities contributing to these phenomena is employed, so as to derive the results for rather general potential energy functions

Interactions in Polar Media. II. Continua

It is shown that the electronically polarizable continuum model of a particle satisfies the equations of part I, after suitable choice of operator A_i appearing there. The proof is given for the case where the system is regarded as composed of particles and treated statistically mechanically. It is also given for the case where several particles receive special attention and the remainder of the system (the "medium") is treated as an orientationally and electronically polarizable continuum. For the second case it was necessary to extend the results of Part I, so as to include several particles in the presence of the above "medium" and to compute the free energy of such systems. Calculations are given for media possessing equilibrium and nonequilibrium dielectric polarization. It follows from the foregoing proofs that a wide variety of models assumed in the literature for treating polar interactions are special cases of the model in Part I and of the extension to particle‐medium systems in this paper. Electrode systems, for example, are included, even when the electrode is treated in the usual dielectric continuum manner. The relation and relative merits of the two models for the induced charge distribution that are standard in the literature, both special cases of Part I, are discussed. These models are the induced dipole and the electronically polarizable continuum. Possible direct experimental investigation of the second of these by scattering experiments is examined

Ion-Ion and Ion-Neutral Interactions in Solution and Measurements of Dielectric Constants

Data on dielectric constants of electrolyte solutions are used to evaluate directly the r^(−4) term in the asymptotic expression for the free energy of interaction of two ions in solution for large separation distance r. Use is made of the fact that for large separations each ion is in a uniform field due to the other, and that information about ions in uniform fields is obtainable from measurements of dielectric constants. For a Z:Z electrolyte, for example, the r^(−4) term is found to be Z^2e^2δ/8πϵ_0r^4, assuming the effect of overlapping solvent structures to be of shorter range; ϵ_0 is the dielectric constant of the solvent and δ is the measured decrement in dielectric constant per unit concentration of added electrolyte. A similar result obtained when one of the particles is uncharged, δ now referring to the decrement observed when the neutral is added to solution. Typical values of the term are given for various substances using the data on δ's. This determination of the r^(−4) term permits some evaluation of ion—image force theories

Spiers Memorial Lecture: Interplay of theory and computation in chemistry—examples from on-water organic catalysis, enzyme catalysis, and single-molecule fluctuations

In this lecture, several examples are considered that illustrate the interplay of experiment, theory, and computations. The examples include on-water catalysis of organic reactions, enzymatic catalysis, single molecule fluctuations, and some much earlier work on electron transfer and atom or group transfer reactions. Computations have made a major impact on our understanding and in the comparisons with experiments. There are also major advantages of analytical theories that may capture in a single equation an entire field and relate experiments of one type to those of another. Such a theory has a generic quality. These topics are explored in the present lecture

Separation of Sets of Variables in Quantum Mechanics

Separation of the Schrödinger equation for molecular dynamics into sets of variables can sometimes be performed when separation into individual variables is neither possible nor for certain purposes necesary. Sufficient conditions for such a separation are derived. They are the same as those found by Stäckel for the corresponding Hamilton—Jacobi problem, with an additional one which is the analog of the Robertson condition for one‐dimensional sets. Expressions are also derived for operators whose eigenvalues are the separation constants. They provide a variational property for these constants. For use in aperiodic problems an expression is obtained for the probability current in curvilinear coordinates in an invariant form. Application of these results to reaction rate theory is made elsewhere

Enzymatic catalysis and transfers in solution. I. Theory and computations, a unified view

The transfer of hydride, proton, or H atom between substrate and cofactor in enzymes has been extensively studied for many systems, both experimentally and computationally. A simple equation for the reaction rate, an analog of an equation obtained earlier for electron transfer rates, is obtained, but now containing an approximate analytic expression for the bond rupture-bond forming feature of these H transfers. A "symmetrization," of the potential energy surfaces is again introduced [R. A. Marcus, J. Chem. Phys. 43, 679 (1965); J. Phys. Chem. 72, 891 (1968)], together with Gaussian fluctuations of the remaining coordinates of the enzyme and solution needed for reaching the transition state. Combining the two expressions for the changes in the difference of the two bond lengths of the substrate-cofactor subsystem and in the fluctuation coordinates of the protein leading to the transition state, an expression is obtained for the free energy barrier. To this end a two-dimensional reaction space (m,n) is used that contains the relative coordinates of the H in the reactants, the heavy atoms to which it is bonded, and the protein/solution reorganization coordinate, all leading to the transition state. The resulting expression may serve to characterize in terms of specific parameters (two "reorganization" terms, thermodynamics, and work terms), experimental and computational data for different enzymes, and different cofactor-substrate systems. A related characterization was used for electron transfers. To isolate these factors from nuclear tunneling, when the H-tunneling effect is large, use of deuterium and tritium transfers is of course helpful, although tunneling has frequently and understandably dominated the discussions. A functional form is suggested for the dependence of the deuterium kinetic isotope effect (KIE) on DeltaG° and a different form for the 13C KIE. Pressure effects on deuterium and 13C KIEs are also discussed. Although formulated for a one-step transfer of a light particle in an enzyme, the results would also apply to single-step transfers of other atoms and groups in enzymes and in solution

Theory of Semiclassical Transition Probabilities (S Matrix) for Inelastic and Reactive Collisions. Uniformization with Elastic Collision Trajectories

A canonical transformation is described for uniformizing the coordinates used in Paper I of this series. For comparison with the results of Paper III, which based a uniformization on exact trajectories, the present article describes one based on elastic collision trajectories. The question of invariance of S-matrix elements with respect to semiclassical unitary transformations is also discussed

Dissociation and Isomerization of Vibrationally Excited Species. III

The equations of Part I for the specific and over‐all unimolecular reaction‐rate constants are extended slightly by including centrifugal effects in a more detailed way and by making explicit allowance for possible reaction‐path degeneracy (optically or geometrically isomeric paths). The expression for reaction‐path degeneracy can be applied to other types of reactions in discussions of statistical factors in reaction rates

High‐Order Time‐Dependent Perturbation Theory for Classical Mechanics and for Other Systems of First‐Order Ordinary Differential Equations

A time‐dependent perturbation solution is derived for a system of first‐order nonlinear or linear ordinary differential equations. By means of an ansatz, justified a posteriori, the latter equations can be converted to an operator equation which is solvable by several methods. The solution is subsequently specialized to the case of classical mechanics. For the particular case of autonomous equations the solution reduces to a well‐known one in the literature. However, when collision phenomena are treated and described in a classical “interaction representation” the differential equations are typically nonautonomous, and the more general solution is required. The perturbation expression is related to a quantum mechanical one and will be applied subsequently to semiclassical and classical treatments of collisions