Atmospheric chemistry of CF3O2: a theoretical study on mechanisms and pathways of the CF3O2 + IO reaction

The mechanisms and reaction pathways for the CF3O2 + IO reaction have been investigated by quantum chemistry methods. It has been found that the title reaction takes place on both the singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces (PES). On the singlet PES, the most important products include CF3OOOI, CF3OOIO, CF3OIO2, and CF2O + FIO2, while other products such as CF2O + FOIO, CF2O + FOOI, CF3OOI + O(P-3), CF3OI + O-2 ((1)Delta and (3)Sigma), and CF3O + OIO are negligible due to high barriers or unstable formations. On the triplet PES, CF3O + OIO is the dominant product with a lower barrier. As for FIO2 and it isomers, the most stable one is FIO2. TDDFT (Time Dependent Density Functional Theory) calculation indicates that CF3OOOI, CF3OOIO and CF3OIO2 undergo photolysis easily under sunlight. Moreover, a minor contribution relative to hydrogen is found in the CX3O2 + IO (X = H and F) reactions.