Is either direct photolysis or photocatalysed H-shift of peroxyl radicals a competitive pathway in the troposphere?

Peroxyl radicals (ROO.) are key intermediates in atmospheric chemistry, with relatively long lifetimes compared to most other radical species. In this study, we use multireference quantum chemical methods to investigate whether photolysis can compete with well-established ROO. sink reactions. We assume that the photolysis channel is always ROO. + h nu => RO + O(P-3). Our results show that the maximal value of the cross-section for this channel is sigma = 1.3 x 10(-18) cm(2) at 240 nm for five atmospherically representative peroxyl radicals: CH3OO., C(O)HCH2OO., CH3CH2OO., HC(O)OO. and CH3C(O)OO.. These values agree with experiments to within a factor of 2. The rate constant of photolysis in the troposphere is around 10(-5) s(-1) for all five ROO.. As the lifetime of peroxyl radicals in the troposphere is typically less than 100 s, photolysis is thus not a competitive process. Furthermore, we investigate whether or not electronic excitation to the first excited state (D-1) by infrared radiation can facilitate various H-shift reactions, leading, for example, in the case of CH3OO. to formation of O.H and CH2O or HOO. and CH2 products. While the activation barriers for H-shifts in the D-1 state may be lower than in the ground state (D-0), we find that H-shifts are unlikely to be competitive with decay back to the D-0 state through internal conversion, as this has a rate of the order of 10(13) s(-1) for all studied systems.Peer reviewe

Computational Investigation of the Formation of Peroxide (ROOR) Accretion Products in the OH- and NO3-Initiated Oxidation of alpha-Pinene

The formation of accretion products ("dimers") from recombination reactions of peroxyl radicals (RO2) is a key 5 3 step in the gas-phase generation of low-volatility vapors, leading to atmospheric aerosol particles. We have recently demonstrated that S 1 this recombination reaction very likely proceeds via an intermediate complex of two alkoxy radicals (RO center dot center dot center dot OR') and that the accretion product pathway involves an intersystem crossing (ISC) of this complex from the triplet to the singlet surface. However, ISC rates have hitherto not been computed for large and chemically complex RO center dot center dot center dot OR' systems actually relevant to atmospheric aerosol formation. Here, we carry out systematic conformational sampling and ISC rate calculations on (3)(RO center dot center dot center dot OR') clusters formed in the recombination reactions of different diastereomers of the first-generation peroxyl radicals originating in both OH- and NO3 -initiated reactions of alpha-pinene, a key biogenic hydrocarbon for atmospheric aerosol formation. While we find large differences between the ISC rates of different diastereomer pairs, all systems have ISC rates of at least 10(6) s(-1), and many have rates exceeding 10(10) s(-1). Especially the latter value demonstrates that accretion product formation via the suggested pathway is a competitive process also for alpha-pinene-derived RO2 and likely explains the experimentally observed gas-phase formation of C-20 compounds in alpha-pinene oxidation.Peer reviewe

Comparing Reaction Routes for (3)(RO center dot center dot center dot OR ') Intermediates Formed in Peroxy Radical Self- and Cross-Reactions

Organic peroxy radicals (RO2) are key intermediates in the chemistry of the atmosphere. One of the main sink reactions of RO2 is the recombination reaction RO2 + R'O-2, which has three main channels (all with O-2 as a coproduct): (1) R-H=O + R'OH, (2) RO + R'O, and (3) ROOR'. The RO + R'O "alkoxy" channel promotes radical and oxidant recycling, while the ROOR' "dimer" channel leads to low-volatility products relevant to aerosol processes. The ROOR' channel has only recently been discovered to play a role in the gas phase. Recent computational studies indicate that all of these channels first go through an intermediate complex( 1)(RO center dot center dot center dot O-3(2)center dot center dot center dot OR'). Here, O-3(2) is very weakly bound and will likely evaporate from the system, giving a triplet cluster of two alkoxy radicals: (3)(RO center dot center dot center dot OR'). In this study, we systematically investigate the three reaction channels for an atmospherically representative set of RO + R'O radicals formed in the corresponding RO2+ R'O-2 reaction. First, we systematically sample the possible conformations of the RO center dot center dot center dot OR' clusters on the triplet potential energy surface. Next, we compute energetic parameters and attempt to estimate reaction rate coefficients for the three channels: evaporation/dissociation to RO + R'O, a hydrogen shift leading to the formation of R'(-H)=O + ROH, and "spin-flip" (intersystem crossing) leading to, or at least allowing, the formation of ROOR' dimers. While large uncertainties in the computed energetics prevent a quantitative comparison of reaction rates, all three channels were found to be very fast (with typical rates greater than 10 6 s(-1)). This qualitatively demonstrates that the computationally proposed novel RO2 + R'O-2 reaction mechanism is compatible with experimental data showing non-negligible branching ratios for all three channels, at least for sufficiently complex RO2.Peer reviewe

Intersystem Crossings Drive Atmospheric Gas-Phase Dimer Formation

High molecular weight "ROOR" dimers, likely formed in the gas phase through self- and cross-reactions of complex peroxy radicals (RO2), have been suggested to play a key role in forming ultrafine aerosol particles in the atmosphere. However, the molecular-level reaction mechanism producing these dimers remains unknown. Using multireference quantum chemical methods, we explore one potentially competitive pathway for ROOR' production, involving the initial formation of triplet alkoxy radical (RO) pairs, followed by extremely rapid intersystem crossings (ISC) to the singlet surface, permitting subsequent recombination to ROOR'. Using CH3OO + CH3OO as a model system, we show that the initial steps of this reaction mechanism are likely to be very fast, as the transition states for both the formation and the decomposition of the CH3O4CH3 tetroxide intermediate are far below the reactants in energy. Next, we compute ISC rates for seven different atmospherically relevant (3)(RO center dot center dot center dot R'O) complexes. The ISC rates vary significantly depending on the conformation of the complex and also exhibit strong stereoselectivity. Furthermore, the fastest ISC process is usually not between the lowest-energy triplet and singlet states but between the triplet ground state and an exited singlet state. For each studied (RO center dot center dot center dot R'O) system, at least one low-energy conformer with an ISC rate above 10(8) s(-1) can be found. This demonstrates that gas-phase dimer formation in the atmosphere very likely involves ISCs originating in relativistic quantum mechanics.Peer reviewe

An Experimental and Master Equation Investigation of Kinetics of the CH2OO+RCN Reactions (R = H, CH3, C2H5) and Their Atmospheric Relevance

We have performed direct kinetic measurements of the CH2OO + RCN reactions (R = H, CH3, C2H5) in the temperature range 233-360 K and pressure range 10-250 Torr using time-resolved UV-absorption spectroscopy. We have utilized a new photolytic precursor, chloroiodomethane (CH2ICl), whose photolysis at 193 nm in the presence of O2 produces CH2OO. Observed bimolecular rate coefficients for CH2OO + HCN, CH2OO + CH3CN, and CH2OO + C2H5CN reactions at 296 K are (2.22 +/- 0.65) x 10-14 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, (1.02 +/- 0.10) x 10-14 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, and (2.55 +/- 0.13) x 10-14 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, respectively, suggesting that reaction with CH2OO is a potential atmospheric degradation pathway for nitriles. All the reactions have negligible temperature and pressure dependence in the studied regions. Quantum chemical calculations (omega B97X-D/aug-cc-pVTZ optimization with CCSD(T)-F12a/VDZ-F12 electronic energy correction) of the CH2OO + RCN reactions indicate that the barrierless lowest-energy reaction path leads to a ring closure, resulting in the formation of a 1,2,4-dioxazole compound. Master equation modeling results suggest that following the ring closure, chemical activation in the case of CH2OO + HCN and CH2OO + CH3CN reactions leads to a rapid decomposition of 1,2,4-dioxazole into a CH2O + RNCO pair, or by a rearrangement, into a formyl amide (RC(O)NHC(O)H), followed by decomposition into CO and an imidic acid (RC(NH)OH). The 1,2,4-dioxazole, the CH2O + RNCO pair, and the CO + RC(NH)OH pair are atmospherically significant end products to varying degrees.Peer reviewe

Calculating rate constants for intersystem crossing and internal conversion in the Franck-Condon and Herzberg-Teller approximations

Effective and fast algorithms for calculating rate constants for internal conversion (IC) and intersystem crossing (ISC) in the Franck-Condon and Herzberg-Teller approximations have been developed and implemented. The methods have been employed for calculating IC and ISC rate constants for the pyrromethene-567 dye (PM567), hetero[8]circulene (4B) and free-base porphyrin (H2P). The fluorescence quantum yields obtained by comparing calculated rate constants for the radiative and non-radiative processes are in good agreement with experimental data.Peer reviewe

PriorVAE: Encoding spatial priors with VAEs for small-area estimation

Gaussian processes (GPs), implemented through multivariate Gaussian distributions for a finite collection of data, are the most popular approach in small-area spatial statistical modelling. In this context they are used to encode correlation structures over space and can generalise well in interpolation tasks. Despite their flexibility, off-the-shelf GPs present serious computational challenges which limit their scalability and practical usefulness in applied settings. Here, we propose a novel, deep generative modelling approach to tackle this challenge, termed PriorVAE: for a particular spatial setting, we approximate a class of GP priors through prior sampling and subsequent fitting of a variational autoencoder (VAE). Given a trained VAE, the resultant decoder allows spatial inference to become incredibly efficient due to the low dimensional, independently distributed latent Gaussian space representation of the VAE. Once trained, inference using the VAE decoder replaces the GP within a Bayesian sampling framework. This approach provides tractable and easy-to-implement means of approximately encoding spatial priors and facilitates efficient statistical inference. We demonstrate the utility of our VAE two stage approach on Bayesian, small-area estimation tasks

Aromaticity of Even-Number Cyclo[n]carbons (n=6-100)

The recently synthesized cyclo[18]carbon molecule has been characterized in a number of studies by calculating electronic, spectroscopic, and mechanical properties. However, cyclo[18] carbon is only one member of the class of cyclo[n]carbons-standalone carbon allotrope representatives. Many of the larger members of this class of molecules have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, we calculate the magnetically induced current density of cyclo[n]carbons in order to elucidate how electron delocalization and aromatic properties change with the size of the molecular ring (n), where n is an even number between 6 and 100. We find that the Hiickel rules for aromaticity (4k + 2) and antiaromaticity (4k) become degenerate for large C-n rings (n > 50), which can be understood as a transition from a delocalized electronic structure to a nonaromatic structure with localized current density fluxes in the triple bonds. Actually, the calculations suggest that cyclo[n]carbons with n > 50 are nonaromatic cyclic polyalkynes. The influence of the amount of nonlocal exchange and the asymptotic behavior of the exchange-correlation potential of the employed density functionals on the strength of the magnetically induced ring current and the aromatic character of the large cyclo[n]carbons is also discussed.Peer reviewe

Fast estimation of the internal conversion rate constant in photophysical applications

An efficient method for estimating non-adiabatic coupling matrix elements (NACME) and rate constants for internal conversion (k(IC)) is presented. The method, based on Plotnikov's theory, requires only calculations of the electronic wave functions and the corresponding electronic excitation energies. Computationally expensive calculations of the derivatives of the electronic wave function with respect to the nuclear coordinates are avoided. When the main accepting modes of the electronic excitation energy are X-H vibrations, the present method can be used for estimating the efficiency of the energy transfer between donor and acceptor molecules. It can also be used in studies of the influence of hydrogen bonding or solvent effect on fluorescence quenching, in studies of vibronic effects of TADF (thermally activated delayed fluorescence) emitters, and for calculating k(IC). Here, k(IC) and NACME are calculated for free-base porhyrin, magnesium porphyrin, azulene, naphthalene, pyrene and fluorenone interacting with a solvent molecule. Reverse k(IC) and NACME are further calculated for the T-1 -> T-2 transition of dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide (PTZ-DBTO2), which is used in TADF applications. Finally, we estimate the efficiency of the energy transfer between two large porphyrinoid dimers.Peer reviewe

Computed Pre-reactive Complex Association Lifetimes Explain Trends in Experimental Reaction Rates for Peroxy Radical Recombinations

The lifetimes of pre-reactive complexes, although implicitly part of the equations used to model many gas-phase bimolecular reactions, have seldom been included in quantitative calculations of rate coefficients. Here, we demonstrate the application of empirical molecular dynamics simulations of collisions between peroxy radicals to model association lifetimes. With the exception of the methyl peroxy−acetyl peroxy system, measurements of the lifetimes based on a phenomenological model are shown to correlate well with available experimental data for recombination reactions of peroxy radicals in cases where the rate-limiting transition state lies below the reactants in energy. Further, we predict reaction rates for larger α-pinene-derived peroxy radicals, and we interpret our results in tandem with available experimental data on these systems, which are of great relevance to improve our understanding of atmospheric aerosol formation.Peer reviewe