H + CD ₄ abstraction reaction dynamics: Excitation function and angular distributions

We compare experimental photoloc measurements and quasi-classical trajectory calculations of the integral cross sections, lab-frame speed distributions, and angular distributions associated with the CD ₃ products of the H + CD ₄(v = 0) → CD ₃+ HD reaction at collision energies ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 eV. Of the potential energy surfaces (PES) we explored, the direct dynamics calculations using the B3LYP/6-31G** density functional theory PES provide the best agreement with the experimental measurements. This agreement is likely due to the better overall description that B3LYP provides for geometries well removed from the minimum energy path, even though its barrier height is low by ∼0.2 eV. In contrast to previous theoretical calculations, the angular distributions on this surface show behavior associated with a stripping mechanism, even at collision energies only ∼0.1 eV above the reaction barrier. Other potential energy surfaces, which include an analytical potential energy surface from Espinosa-García and a direct dynamics calculation based on the MSINDO semiempirical Hamiltonian, are less accurate and predict more rebound dynamics at these energies than is observed. Reparametrization of the MSINDO surface, though yielding better agreement with the experiment, is not sufficient to capture the observed dynamics. The differences between these surfaces are interpreted using an analysis of the opacity functions, where we find that the wider cone of acceptance on the B3LYP surface plays a crucial role in determining the integral cross sections and angular distributions.