Computational study of the reactions of SiH3X (X=H, Cl, Br, I) with HCN

Ab initio calculations were carried out for the reactions of silane and halosilanes (SiH3X, X=H, Cl, Br, I) with HCN. Geometries of the reactants, transition states, intermediates and products were optimized at HF, MP2, and B3LYP levels of theory using the 6-31G(d) and 6-31G(d,p) basis sets. Energies were also obtained using G3MP2 and G3B3 levels of theory. Intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) calculations were performed to characterize the transition states on the potential energy surface. It was found that HCN can react with silane and halosilanes via three different mechanisms. One involves HX elimination by a one-step pathway producing SiH3CN. The second mechanism consists of H2 elimination, producing SiH2XCN via a one-step pathway or three multiple-step pathways. The third mechanism involves dissociation of SiH3X to various products, which can then react with HCN. Activation energies, enthalpies, and free energies of activation along with the thermodynamic properties (DeltaE, DeltaH, and DeltaG) of each reaction pathway were calculated. The reaction of SiH3X with HCN produce different products depending on substituent X. We have found that the standard 6-31G(d) bromine basis set gave results which were in better agreement with the G3MP2 results than for the Binning-Curtiss basis set. Computed heats of formation (DeltaHf) for SiH3CN, SiH3NC, SiH2ClCN, SiH2BrCN, SiH2ICN, SiHCl, SiHBr, and SiHI were found to be 133.5, 150.8, -34.4, 23.6, 102.4, 48.7, 127.1, and 179.8 kJ mol-1, respectively. From enthalpies calculated at G3MP2, we predict that the DeltaHf for SiH2 to be 262.8 kJ mol-1 compared to the experimental value of 273.8+/-4.2 kJ mol-1.