Hydride transfer reactions are very important chemical reactions
in organic chemistry. It has been a chemist’s dream to predict
the rate constants of hydride transfer reactions by only using the
physical parameters of the reactants. To realize this dream, we have
developed a kinetic equation (Zhu equation) in our previous papers
to predict the activation free energies of various chemical reactions
using the activation free energies of the corresponding self-exchange
reactions and the related bond dissociation energies or redox potentials
of the reactants. Because the activation free energy of the hydride
self-exchange reaction is difficult to measure using the experimental
method, in this study, the activation free energies of 159 hydride
self-exchange reactions in acetonitrile at 298 K were systematically
computed using an accurately benchmarked density functional theory
method with a precision of 1.1 kcal mol
–1
. The results
show that the range of the activation free energies of the 159 hydride
self-exchange reactions is from 16.1 to 46.6 kcal mol
–1
. The activation free energies of 25 122 hydride transfer
reactions in acetonitrile at 298 K can be estimated using the activation
free energies of the 159 hydride self-exchange reactions and the corresponding
heterolytic bond dissociation free energies of the reactants. The
effects of the heteroatom, substituent, and aromaticity on the activation
free energies of hydride self-exchange reactions were examined. The
results show that heteroatoms, substituents at the reaction center,
and the aromaticity of reactants, all have remarkable effects on the
activation free energy of hydride self-exchange reactions. All kinetic
information provided in this work on the hydride self-exchange reactions
in acetonitrile at 298 K should be very useful in chemical labs and
chemical industry.