Theoretical study on the insertion reaction of CH(X2Π) with CH4

Abstract

The CH + CH4 reaction has been studied by means of ab initio molecular orbital calculations incorporating electron correlation with Møller–Plesset perturbation theory up to second and fourth orders with the 6-31G(d,p) and 6-311++G(2d,p) basis sets. An energetically feasible insertion reaction path has been found in the potential energy surface that confirms the experimental proposal for the mechanism of the CH + CH4 reaction. The feature of the mechanism for the CH + CH4 insertion reaction is found to be different from the feature of the mechanisms for the CH + NH3, CH + H2O, and CH + HF insertion reactions, but somewhat similar to that for the CH2 + CH4 insertion reaction. Energetic results for the CH + CH4 reactions are in agreement with experiment. Keywords: CH radical, methane, reaction mechanism.