PNNL

Abstract

Two-dimensional free-energy surfaces are calculated for alkyl chloride/chloride exchange/inversion reactions: Cl- + RCl (R = Me and t-Bu) surrounded by one hundred H2O molecules as a model of solvent. The methodology of free-energy calculation by perturbation theory based on a mixed-Hamiltonian model (QM/MM) combined with Monte Carlo sampling of the solvent configurations was used to obtain the changes in solvation free energy. We devised a special procedure to analyze the two-dimensional free-energy surfaces to gain unique insight into the differences in the reaction mechanisms between the two systems. The inversion reaction path for R = t-Bu on the free-energy surface is found to proceed in an asynchronous way within a concerted framework via the ion-pair region. This is in contrast to the R = Me system that proceeds as a typical SN2 reaction. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences program. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for DOE.