Abstract:The noncrossing rule for potential energy surfaces can be applied only, as originally postulated by von Neumann and Wigner, to slowly occurring changes; it has, however, over many years, been widely used to rationalize fast chemical reactions. Taking the conversion of Dewar benzene to benzene as an example, we demonstrate a reaction that has a timescale for which crossings are allowed. Since it is now established that elementary chemical reactions proceed over ca. 10–100[Formula: see text]fs, as revealed exper… Show more
Set email alert for when this publication receives citations?
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.