A computational study on kinetics, mechanism and thermochemistry of gas-phase reactions of 3-hydroxy-2-butanone with OH radicals

Theoretical investigation has been carried out on the kinetics and reaction mechanism of the gas-phase reaction of 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (3H2B) with OH radical using dual-level procedure employing the optimization at DFT(BHandHLYP)/6-311++G(d,p) followed by a single-point energy calculation at the CCSD(T)/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The pre- and post reactive complexes are also validated at entrance and exit channels, respectively. Thus reaction may be proceed via indirect mechanism. The intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) calculation has also been performed to confirm the smooth transition from a reactant to product through the respective transition states. The rate coefficients were calculated for the first time over a wide range of temperature (250-450 K) and described by the following expression: k(OH) = 7.56 x 10(-11)exp[-(549.3 +/- 11.2)/T] cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). At 298 K, our calculated rate coefficient 1.20 x 10(-11) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) is in good agreement with the experimental results. Our calculation indicates that H-abstraction from alpha-C-H site of 3H2B is the dominant reaction channel. Using group-balanced isodesmic reactions, the standard enthalpies of formation for 3H2B and radicals generated by hydrogen abstraction are reported for the first time. The branching ratios of the different reaction channels are also determined. Also, the atmospheric lifetime of 3H2B is also calculated to be 1.04 days.