A combined experimental and trajectory study of vibrationally state-selected NO 2 + collisions with Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe is presented. Ne, Ar, and Kr are similar in that only dissociation to the excited singlet oxygen channel is observed; however, the appearance energies vary by ϳ4 eV between the three rare gases, and the variation is nonmonotonic in rare gas mass. Xe behaves quite differently, allowing efficient access to the ground triplet state dissociation channel. For all four rare gases there are strong effects of NO 2 + vibrational excitation that extend over the entire collision energy range, implying that vibration influences the efficiency of collision to internal energy conversion. Bending excitation is more efficient than stretching; however, bending angular momentum partially counters the enhancement. Direct dynamics trajectories for NO 2 + + Kr reproduce both the collision energy and vibrational state effects observed experimentally and reveal that intracomplex charge transfer is critical for the efficient energy transfer needed to drive dissociation. The strong vibrational effects can be rationalized in terms of bending, and to a lesser extent, stretching distortion enhancing transition to the Kr +-NO 2 charge state.

NO(2)(+) in six different vibrational states was reacted with C(2)H(2) over the center-of-mass energy range from 0.03 to 3.3 eV. The reaction, forming NO(+)+C(2)H(2)O and NO+C(2)H(2)O(+), shows a bimodal dependence on collision energy (E(col)). At low E(col), the reaction is quite inefficient (<2%) despite this being a barrierless, exoergic reaction, and is strongly inhibited by E(col). For E(col)> approximately 0.5 eV, a second mechanism turns on, with an efficiency reaching approximately 27% for E(col)>3 eV. The two reaction channels have nearly identical dependence on E(col) and NO(2)(+) vibrational state, and identical recoil dynamics, leading to the conclusion that they represent a single reaction path throughout most of the collision. All modes of NO(2)(+) vibrational excitation enhance both channels at all E(col), however, the effects of bend (010) and bend overtone (02(0)0) excitation are particularly strong (factor of 4). In contrast, the asymmetric stretch (001), which intuition suggests should be coupled to the reaction coordinate, leads to only a factor of approximately 2 enhancement, as does the symmetric stretch (100). Perhaps the most surprising effect is that of the bending angular momentum, which strongly suppress reaction, even though both the energy and angular momentum involved are tiny compared to the collision energy and angular momentum. The results are interpreted in light of ab initio and Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus calculations.

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A large set of quasi-classical trajectories were calculated at the PBE1PBE/6-311G** level of theory, in an attempt to understand the mechanistic origins of the large, mode-specific enhancement of the O-transfer reaction by NO2+ bending vibration and the surprisingly large suppressing effect of bending angular momentum. The trajectories reproduce the magnitude of the absolute reaction cross section, and also get the dependence of reactivity on NO2+ vibrational state, and the vibrational state dependent scattering behavior qualitatively correct. Analysis of the trajectories shows that the bending effect is not simply a consequence of enhanced reactivity in bent geometries but, rather, that excitation of bending motion allows reaction in a wider range of orientation angles, even if the NO2+ is not bent at the onset of the collisional interaction. There is a strong interplay between NO2+ bending and transient charge transfer during the collisions. Such charge transfer enhances reactivity, but only if the reactants are oriented correctly.