Elucidation of the chemical reactivity
of metal clusters is often
cumbersome due to the nonintuitive structures of the corresponding
transition states. In this work, a hierarchical transition-state algorithm
as implemented in the deMon2k code has been applied to locate transition
states of small sodium clusters with 6–10 atoms. This algorithm
combines the so-called double-ended interpolation method with the
uphill trust region method. The minimum structures needed as input
were obtained from Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations.
To connect the found transition states with the corresponding minimum
structures, the intrinsic reaction coordinates were calculated. This
work demonstrates how nonintuitive rearrangement mechanisms can be
studied in metal clusters.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.