Comparison of Three Isoelectronic Multiple-Well Reaction Systems: OH + CH₂O, OH + CH₂CH₂, and OH + CH₂NH

Abstract

Methylenimine (CH2NH) has been predicted to be a product of the atmospheric photo-oxidation of methylamine, but its atmospheric reactions have not been measured. In this paper, we report potential energy surfaces (PESs) and rate constants for OH + CH2NH and its isoelectronic analogues OH + CH2O and OH + CH2CH2, which are more fully understood. The PESs were computed using the BHandHLYP/aug-cc-pVTZ and CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ levels of theory. Canonical variational transition state theory and Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus and master equation modeling were used to calculate temperature- and pressure-dependent rate constants, with particular emphasis on the OH + reactant entrance channels and the effects of prereactive complexes. The computed results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data where they can be compared and also with the results of previous theoretical calculations. The results show that to some extent OH radicals both add to the carbon center double bond in CH2NH and abstract methylene hydrogen atoms, as in the OH + CH2O and OH + CH2CH2 reactions, respectively, but the dominant pathway is abstraction of the hydrogen from N-H. The computed rate constants are suitable for both atmospheric and combustion modeling.