Advances In Chemical Reaction Dynamics

This book contains the formal lectures and contributed papers presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on. the Advances in Chemical Reaction Dynamics. The meeting convened at the city of Iraklion, Crete, Greece on 25 August 1985 and continued to 7 September 1985. The material presented describes the fundamental and recent advances in experimental and theoretical aspects of, reaction dynamics. A large section is devoted to electronically excited states, ionic species, and free radicals, relevant to chemical sys tems. In addition recent advances in gas phase polymerization, formation of clusters, and energy release processes in energetic materials were presented. Selected papers deal with topics such as the dynamics of electric field effects in low polar solutions, high electric field perturbations and relaxation of dipole equilibria, correlation in picosecond/laser pulse scattering, and applications to fast reaction dynamics. Picosecond transient Raman spectroscopy which has been used for the elucidation of reaction dynamics and structural changes occurring during the course of ultrafast chemical reactions; propagation of turbulent flames and detonations in gaseous· energetic systems are also discussed in some detail. In addition a large portion of the program was devoted to current experimental and theoretical studies of the structure of the transition state as inferred from product state distributions; translational energy release in the photodissociation of aromatic molecules; intramolecu lar and intraionic dynamic processes.

Annotation Provides a detailed picture of the current status of advanced experimental and theoretical research in chemical reaction dynamics. Topics include the Doppler-selected time-of-flight technique, multimass ion imaging, and photodissociation dynamics of free radicals.

This volume depicts the recent advances in reaction dynamics with special emphasis on molecular beams and clusters, probing the transition state using femtosecond laser techniques, state-to-state photodissociation, chaos in chemical dynamics, gas-surface scattering and nonlinear laser techniques for probing liquid and solid surfaces.

The field of chemical reaction dynamics has made tremendous progressduring the last decade or so. This is due largely to the developmentof many new, state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical techniquesduring that period. It is beneficial to present these advances, boththeoretical and experimental, in a review volume (Parts I and II).

The field of chemical reaction dynamics has made tremendous progressduring the last decade or so. This is due largely to the developmentof many new, state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical techniquesduring that period. It is beneficial to present these advances, boththeoretical and experimental, in a review volume published in twoparts (Parts I and II). The primary purpose of this review volume isto provide graduate students and experts in the field with a ratherdetailed picture of the current status of advanced experimental andtheoretical research in chemical reaction dynamics. All chapters inthese two parts have been written by world-renowned experts active insuch research.

' The field of chemical reaction dynamics has made tremendous progress during the last decade or so. This is due largely to the development of many new, state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical techniques during that period. It is beneficial to present these advances, both theoretical and experimental, in a review volume published in two parts (Parts I and II). The primary purpose of this review volume is to provide graduate students and experts in the field with a rather detailed picture of the current status of advanced experimental and theoretical research in chemical reaction dynamics. All chapters in these two parts have been written by world-renowned experts active in such research. Contents:Multiple Channel Reaction Dynamics Using Universal Crossed Molecular Beam Techniques (X-M Yang)Ion Imaging Applied to the Study of Chemical Dynamics (D W Chandler & J I Cline)The Dynamics of Hydrogen Atom Abstraction from Polyatomic Molecules (X-H Liu & A G Suits)Ab Initio Potential Energy Surfaces of Large Reaction Systems (A M Mebel)Theoretical Dynamics Treatment of Chemical Reactions (J Z H Zhang et al.)Quasiclassical Trajectory Studies of Four-Atom Reactions (D Troya et al.)Recent Developments in Statistical Rate Theory for Unimolecular and Complex-Forming Reactions (S C Smith)Non-Born-Oppenheimer Chemistry: Potential Surfaces, Couplings, and Dynamics (A W Jasper et al.)Semiclassical Theory of Nonadiabatic Transition and Tunneling (C-Y Zhu)Transition State Spectroscopy (D M Neumark)Coincidence Imaging Techniques (R E Continetti & C C Hayden)Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Imaging (T Suzuki)Manipulating Cold Molecules with Nonresonant Fields (B Friedrich) Readership: Undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry as well as atomic and molecular physics; researchers in physical chemistry. Keywords:Physical Chemistry;Chemical Physics;Molecular Physics;Chemical Reaction Dynamics;Molecular Dynamics;Quantum Dynamics;Photochemistry;Theoretical ChemistryReviews:“This volume will be an important resource for a diverse community of scholars for some time to come. Equations, schemes, and figures are of high quality and free of typographical errors. Each chapter is extensively referenced, with the bulk of the references occurring from 1998 to 2002. The problems chosen for study in this volume span a range of new and exciting intellectual pursuits at the forefront of research in chemical reaction dynamics.”Journal of the American Chemical Society '

The calculation of cross sections and rate constants for chemical reactions in the gas phase has long been a major problem in theoretical chemistry. The need for reliable and applicable theories in this field is evident when one considers the significant recent advances that have been made in developing experimental techniques, such as lasers and molecular beams, to probe the microscopic details of chemical reactions. For example, it is now becoming possible to measure cross sections for chemical reactions state selected in the vibrational rotational states of both reactants and products. Furthermore, in areas such as atmospheric, combustion and interstellar chemistry, there is an urgent need for reliable reaction rate constant data over a range of temperatures, and this information is often difficult to obtain in experiments. The classical trajectory method can be applied routinely to simple reactions, but this approach neglects important quantum mechanical effects such as tunnelling and resonances. For all these reasons, the quantum theory of reactive scattering is an area that has received considerable attention recently. This book describes the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held at CECAM, Orsay, France in June, 1985. The Workshop concentrated on a critical examination and discussion of the recent developments in the theory of chemical reaction dynamics, with particular emphasis on quantum theories. Several papers focus on exact theories for reactions.

This book deals with a central topic at the interface of chemistry and physics - the understanding of how the transformation of matter takes place at the atomic level. Building on the laws of physics, the book focuses on the theoretical framework for predicting the outcome of chemical reactions. The style is highly systematic with attention to basic concepts and clarity of presentation. Molecular reaction dynamics is about the detailed atomic-level description of chemical reactions. Based on quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics or, as an approximation, classical mechanics, the dynamics of uni- and bi-molecular elementary reactions are described. The book features a detailed presentation of transition-state theory which plays an important role in practice, and a comprehensive discussion of basic theories of reaction dynamics in condensed phases. Examples and end-of-chapter problems are included in order to illustrate the theory and its connection to chemical problems.