Dissociative chemisorption of CH 4 on transition-metal surfaces, representing the rate-limiting step in methane steam reforming, has been shown experimentally to be strongly mode selective. To understand the mode selectivity, a twelve-dimensional global potential energy surface is developed for CH 4 interacting with a rigid Ni(111) surface based on a large number of density functional theory points. The reaction dynamics is investigated using an eight-dimensional quantum model, which includes representatives of all four vibrational modes of methane. After correcting for surface effects, key experimental observations, including the mode selectivity, are well reproduced. These theoretical results, along with mechanistic analysis, provide insights into this industrially important heterogeneous reaction.

Dissociative chemisorption is the initial and often rate-limiting step in many heterogeneous processes. As a result, an in-depth understanding of the reaction dynamics of such processes is of great importance for the establishment of a predictive model of heterogeneous catalysis. Overwhelming experimental evidence has suggested that these processes have a non-statistical nature and excitations in various reactant modes have a significant impact on reactivity. A comprehensive characterization of the reaction dynamics requires a quantum mechanical treatment on a global potential energy surface. In this review, we summarize recent progress in constructing high-dimensional potential energy surfaces for polyatomic molecules interacting with transition metal surfaces based on the plane-wave density functional theory and in quantum dynamical studies of dissociative chemisorption on these potential energy surfaces. A special focus is placed on the mode specificity and bond selectivity in these gas-surface collisional processes, and their rationalization in terms of the recently proposed Sudden Vector Projection model.

By exciting the rotational modes of vibrationally excited CHD3(v1 = 1, JK), the reactivity for the Cl + CHD3 → HCl + CD3 reaction is observed enhanced by as much as a factor of two relative to the rotationless reactant. To understand the mode specificity, the reaction dynamics was studied using both a reduced-dimensional quantum dynamical model and the conventional quasi-classical trajectory method, both of which reproduced qualitatively the measured enhancements. The mechanism of enhancement was analyzed using a Franck-Condon model and by inspecting trajectories. It is shown that the higher reactivity for higher J states of CHD3 with K = 0 can be attributed to the enlargement of the cone of acceptance. On the other hand, the less pronounced enhancement for the higher J = K states is apparently due to the fact that the rotation along the C-H bond is less effective in opening up the cone of acceptance.

The initial state selected time-dependent wave packet method has been developed to study the H+CH4 reaction in seven dimensions by employing the model developed by Palma and Clary [J. Chem. Phys. 112, 1859 (2000)]. The latter eight-dimensional model only assumes that the nonreacting CH3 group keeps a C3V symmetry in reaction. The CH bond lengths in the nonreacting CH3 group were fixed in the study to reduce the number of degrees of freedom to seven. Our calculations reveal that it is very important to accurately deal with the umbrella motion of the CH3 group while studying this reaction. We investigated the effects of the fundamental vibrational excitations of CH4 on the reaction. Finally, we compare our rate constant for the ground rovibrational initial state with available experimental and other theoretical results.

The dynamics of a combustion reaction, namely, O((3)P) + CH4 → OH + CH3, is investigated with an eight-dimensional quantum model that includes representatives of all vibrational modes of CH4 and with a full-dimensional quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) method. The calculated excitation functions for the ground vibrational state CH4 agree well with experiment. Both quantum and QCT results suggest that excitation of the stretching modes of CH4 enhances the reaction, while the bending and umbrella modes have a smaller impact on reactivity, again consistent with experimental findings. However, none of the vibrational excitations has comparable efficiency in promoting the reaction as translational energy.

The balance between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids plays a crucial role in determining the membrane fluidity. In the diploid fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the gene for fatty acid ⌬9 desaturase, OLE1, is essential for viability. Using a reverse genetic approach, termed the fitness test, we identified a group of structurally related synthetic compounds that induce specific hypersensitivity of the OLE1

The thermal rate constant of the O((3)P) + CH4 → OH + CH3 reaction is investigated with ring polymer molecular dynamics on a full-dimensional potential energy surface. Good agreement with experimental and full-dimensional quantum multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree results between 300 and 1500 K was obtained. It is shown that quantum effects, for example, tunneling and zero-point energy, can be effectively and efficiently included in this path-integral based approach implemented with classical trajectories. Convergence with respect to the number of beads is rapid, suggesting wide applicability for other reactions involving polyatomic molecules.

Despite its importance in chemistry, the microscopic dynamics of bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2) reactions is still not completely elucidated. In this publication, the dynamics of a prototypical SN2 reaction (F(-) + CH3Cl → CH3F + Cl(-)) is investigated using a high-dimensional quantum mechanical model on an accurate potential energy surface (PES) and further analyzed by quasi-classical trajectories on the same PES. While the indirect mechanism dominates at low collision energies, the direct mechanism makes a significant contribution. The reactivity is found to depend on the specific reactant vibrational mode excitation. The mode specificity, which is more prevalent in the direct reaction, is rationalized by a transition-state-based model.