A quantum chemistry package for catalytic reactions, referred to as CATIVIC and based on simulation techniques of parametric Hamiltonians, is presented. We describe in detail the computational procedures for modeling adsorption on a catalytic substrate, especially the parameterization scheme using examples of atomic Al and AlOX bonds (X ϭ H, N, O, Si, Fe) for atomic and molecular parameters. The code features are illustrated with the adsorption of NO on models of ZSM-5 zeolite doped with Fe.
The formation pathways of amino acids, namely, glycine and alanine, on the surface of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon flake (corone) are studied with a semiempirical, quantum-chemistry package referred to as CATIVIC. It is found that the stability of the carboxyl group (COOH) is enhanced by chemisorption that occurs in three adsorbate modes. In particular, the two-site mode enables us to make successive surface recombinations that result in chemisorbed amino-acid configurations that closely trace the surface geometry. This property imposes a strict handedness on amino acids assembled from side groups along the surface edge that, in the case of chiral surfaces, may lead to enantioselection as previously found by experiment. By comparing prospective reactions on a larger surface model (circumcoronene), evidence is found that favors amino-acid formation on the smaller flakes. Due to a lack of measurements, the main findings of the present work have been confirmed with an ab initio method.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.