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Published on: June 14, 2018
Reactions between microhydrated superoxide anions and formic acid
Mauritz Johan Ryding1, Israel Fernández2, Einar Uggerud1
1Mass Spectrometry Laboratory and Centre of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1033 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway. mauritz.ryding@kjemi.uio.no einar.uggerud@kjemi.uio.no.
Abstract:
Reactions between water clusters containing the superoxide anion, O2˙-(H2O)n (n = 0-4), and formic acid, HCO2H, were studied experimentally in vacuo and modelled using quantum chemical methods. Encounters between microhydrated superoxide and formic acid were found to result in a number of different reactions, including (a) proton transfer, (b) ligand exchange, (c) H2-elimination (affording microhydrated CO4˙-), and (d) dihydrogen transfer (affording H2O2 and microhydrated CO2˙-). The effect of reactant-ion hydration on reaction rates was investigated and the involved reaction mechanisms were elucidated.
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