Formation and hydrogen release of hydrazine bisborane: transfer vs. attachment of a borane.

The reactivity of hydrazine in the presence of diborane has been investigated using ab initio quantum chemical computations (MP2 and CCSD(T) methods with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set). Portions of the relevant potential energy surface were constructed to probe the formation mechanism of the hydrazine diborane (BH(3)BH(3)NH(2)NH(2)) and hydrazine bisborane (BH(3)NH(2)NH(2)BH(3)). The differences between both adducts are established. The release of hydrogen molecules from hydrazine bisborane adducts has also been characterized. Our results suggest that the BH(3)NH(2)NH(2)BH(3) adduct, which has been prepared experimentally, is formed from the starting reactants hydrazine + diborane. The observed adduct is produced by a transfer of a BH(3) group from BH(3)BH(3)NH(2)NH(2) rather than by the direct attachment of a separate BH(3) group, generated by predissociation of diborane, to BH(3)NH(2)NH(2).

Fast reactions of hydroxycarbenes: tunneling effect versus bimolecular processes.

Different uni- and bimolecular reactions of hydroxymethylene, an important intermediate in the photochemistry of formaldehyde, as well as its halogenated derivatives (XCOH, X = H, F, Cl, Br), have been considered using high-level CCSD(T)/CBS quantum chemical methods. The Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) and Eckart approximations were applied to estimate the tunneling rate constant of isomerization of trans-HCOH to H(2)CO, and the WKB procedure was found to perform better in this case. In agreement with recent calculations and experimental observations [Schreiner et al., Nature 2008, 453, 906], the half-life of HCOH at the low temperature limit in the absence of bimolecular processes was found to be very long (approximately 2.1 h). The corresponding half-life at room temperature was also noticeable (approximately 35 min). Bimolecular reactions of trans-hydroxymethylene with parent formaldehyde yield primarily more thermodynamically favorable glycolaldehyde via the specific mechanism involving 5-center transition state. The most preferable reaction of cis-hydroxymethylene with formaldehyde yields carbon monoxide and methanol. Due to very low activation barriers, both processes occur with nearly a collision rate. If the concentration of HCOH (and its halogenated analogues XCOH as well) is high enough, the bimolecular reactions of this species with itself become important, and H(2)CO (or X(H)CO) is then formed with a collision rate. The singlet-triplet energy separation of trans-HCOH is confirmed to be approximately -25 kcal/mol.

Formation and decomposition of chemically activated and stabilized hydrazine.

Recombination of two amidogen radicals, NH(2) (X(2)B1), is relevant to hydrazine formation, ammonia oxidation and pyrolysis, nitrogen reduction (fixation), and a variety of other N/H/X combustion, environmental, and interstellar processes. We have performed a comprehensive analysis of the N(2)H(4) potential energy surface, using a variety of theoretical methods, with thermochemical kinetic analysis and master equation simulations used to treat branching to different product sets in the chemically activated NH(2) + NH(2) process. For the first time, iminoammonium ylide (NH(3)NH), the less stable isomer of hydrazine, is involved in the kinetic modeling of N(2)H(4). A new, low-energy pathway is identified for the formation of NH(3) plus triplet NH, via initial production of NH(3)NH followed by singlet-triplet intersystem crossing. This new reaction channel results in the formation of dissociated products at a relatively rapid rate at even moderate temperatures and above. A further novel pathway is described for the decomposition of activated N(2)H(4), which eventually leads to the formation of the simple products N(2) + 2H(2), via H(2) elimination to cis-N(2)H(2). This process, termed as "dihydrogen catalysis", may have significant implications in the formation and decomposition chemistry of hydrazine and ammonia in diverse environments. In this mechanism, stereoselective attack of cis-N(2)H(2) by molecular hydrogen results in decomposition to N(2) with a fairly low barrier. The reverse termolecular reaction leading to the gas-phase formation of cis-N(2)H(2) + H(2) achieves non-heterogeneous catalytic nitrogen fixation with a relatively low activation barrier (77 kcal mol(-1)), much lower than the 125 kcal mol(-1) barrier recently reported for bimolecular addition of H(2) to N(2). This termolecular reaction is an entropically disfavored path, but it does describe a new means of activating the notoriously unreactive N(2). We design heterogeneous analogues of this reaction using the model compound (CH(3))(2)FeH(2) as a source of the H(2) catalyst and apply it to the decomposition of cis-diazene. The reaction is seen to proceed via a topologically similar transition state, suggesting that our newly described mechanism is general in nature.

Production of hydrogen from reactions of methane with boranes.

The reactions of methane with different hydrides have been investigated using quantum chemical calculations (MP2 and CCSD(T) methods with the aug-cc-pVnZ one-electron functions extrapolated to the basis set limits). The hydrides of the elements of the second and third row, and also GaH(3), with an electronegativity smaller than the value of hydrogen (LiH, Li(2)H(2), BeH(2), NaH, MgH(2), BH(3), AlH(3), B(2)H(6), Al(2)H(6), SiH(4), PH(4) and GaH(3)) have been considered. Reactions of CH(4) with either BH(3) or LiH are characterized by the lowest energy barriers. Reactions using the known methylated derivatives of boranes with methane follow a similar mechanism. Calculated results strongly suggest the possible use of boranes as reagents in the reactions with methane to produce molecular hydrogen.

Hydrazine bisalane is a potential compound for chemical hydrogen storage. A theoretical study.

Electronic structure calculations suggest that hydrazine bisalane (AlH(3)NH(2)NH(2)AlH(3), alhyzal) is a promising compound for chemical hydrogen storage (CHS). Calculations are carried out using the coupled-cluster theory CCSD(T) with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. Potential energy surfaces are constructed to probe the formation of, and hydrogen release from, hydrazine bisalane which is initially formed from the reaction of hydrazine with dialane. Molecular and electronic characteristics of both gauche and trans alhyzal are determined for the first time. The gauche hydrazine bisalane is formed from starting reactants hydrazine + dialane following a movement of an AlH(3) group from AlH(3)AlH(3)NH(2)NH(2) rather than by a direct attachment of a separate AlH(3) group, generated by predissociation of dialane, to AlH(3)NH(2)NH(2). The energy barriers for dehydrogenation processes from gauche and transalhyzal are in the range of 21-28 kcal mol(-1), which are substantially smaller than those of ca. 40 kcal mol(-1) previously determined for the isovalent hydrazine bisborane (bhyzb) system. H(2) release from hydrazine bisalane is thus more favored over that from hydrazine bisborane, making the Al derivative an alternative candidate for CHS.

The effect of the NH2 substituent on NH3: hydrazine as an alternative for ammonia in hydrogen release in the presence of boranes and alanes.

Potential energy surfaces for H(2) release from hydrazine interacting with borane, alane, diborane, dialane and borane-alane were constructed from MP2/aVTZ geometries and zero point energies with single point energies at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level. With one borane or alane molecule, the energy barrier for H(2)-loss of approximately 38 or 30 kcal mol(-1) does not compete with the B-N or Al-N bond cleavage ( approximately 30 or approximately 28 kcal mol(-1)). The second borane or alane molecule can play the role of a bifunctional catalyst. The barrier energy for H(2)-elimination is reduced from 38 to 23 kcal mol(-1), or 30 to 20 kcal mol(-1) in the presence of diborane or dialane, respectively. The mixed borane-alane dimer reduces the barrier energy for H(2) release from hydrazine to approximately 17 kcal mol(-1). A systematic comparison with the reaction pathways from ammonia borane shows that hydrazine could be an alternative for ammonia in producing borane amine derivatives. The results show a significant effect of the NH(2) substituent on the relevant thermodynamics. The B-N dative bond energy of 31 kcal mol(-1) in NH(2)NH(2)BH(3) is approximately 5 kcal mol(-1) larger than that of the parent BH(3)NH(3). The higher thermodynamic stability could allow hydrazine-borane to be used as a material for certain energetic H(2) storage applications.