Effects of reactant rotational excitations on H2 + NH2 → H + NH3 reactivity

Rotational mode specificity of the title reaction is examined using an initial state selected time-dependent wave packet method on an accurate ab initio based global potential energy surface. This penta-atomic reaction presents an ideal system to test several dynamical approximations, which might be useful for future quantum dynamics studies of polyatomic reactions, particularly with rotationally excited reactants. The first approximation involves a seven-dimensional (7D) model in which the two non-reactive N-H bonds are fixed at their equilibrium geometry. The second is the centrifugal sudden (CS) approximation within the 7D model. Finally, the J-shifting (JS) model is tested, again with the fixed N-H bonds. The spectator-bond approximation works very well in the energy range studied, while the centrifugal sudden and J-shifting integral cross sections (ICSs) agree satisfactorily with the coupled-channel counterparts in the low collision energy range, but deviate at the high energies. The calculated integral cross sections indicate that the rotational excitation of H2 somewhat inhibits the reaction while the rotational excitations of NH2 have little effect. These findings are compared with the predictions of the sudden vector projection model. Finally, a simple model is proposed to predict rotational mode specificity using K-averaged reaction probabilities.