Ab initio study of the mechanism of the atmospheric reaction: NO2 + O3 --> NO3 + O2.

The atmospheric reaction NO2 + O3 --> NO3 + O2 (1) has been investigated theoretically by using the MP2, G2, G2Q, QCISD, QCISD(T), CCSD(T), CASSCF, and CASPT2 methods with various basis sets. The results show that the reaction pathway can be divided in two different parts at the MP2 level of theory. At this level, the mechanism proceeds along two transition states (TS1 and TS2) separated by an intermediate, designated as A. However, when the single-reference higher correlated QCISD methodology has been employed, the minimum A and the transition state TS2 are not found on the hypersurface of potential energy, which confirms a direct reaction mechanism. Single-reference high correlated and multiconfigurational methods consistently predict the barrier height of reaction (1) to be within the range 2.5-6.1 kcal mol(-1), in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The calculated reaction enthalpy is -24.6 kcal mol(-1) and the reaction rate calculated at the highest CASPT2 level, of k = 6.9 x 10(-18) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). Both results can be regarded also as accurate predictions of the methodology employed in this article. Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.