Consequences of resonance tunnelling in chemical kinetics

Abstract

The kinetic consequences of resonance tunnelling processes that may occur in chemical reactions are investigated in terms of a multi-centered unsymmetrical Eckart potential barrier. This potential function does not only simulate the possible existence of intermediate wells in the effective potential energy cut along the reaction path, but also is amenable to analytic solutions. The reaction rate as well as its dependence on temperature, reduced mass, Q-value, activation energy and barrier diffuseness are evaluated for successively increasing the number of barrier stages. Comparisons between results due to single and multi-humped potential energy barriers are made and discussed.