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Chemical physics

A delayed reaction

Nature volume 419, pages 266–267 (2002)Cite this article

The simple hydrogen exchange reaction was well understood until an unexpected effect emerged in detailed experimental measurements of the process. An explanation for this effect has now been found.

The scattering of a hydrogen atom from a hydrogen molecule (H + H2 → H2 + H) is the simplest possible chemical reaction, as it involves only three nuclei and three electrons. This reaction has served as a benchmark system for understanding chemical reaction dynamics for nearly a century, and quantum-mechanical calculations of the electronic aspects of the process have been made with unrivalled accuracy. As a result, quantitative agreement between theory and experiment for the related reaction involving a deuterium molecule, H + D2 → HD + D, was achieved in the middle of the last decade1.

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Figure 1: Wavefunctions and barriers.

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  1. the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QZ, UK

    David E. Manolopoulos

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  1. David E. Manolopoulos
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Correspondence to David E. Manolopoulos.

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Manolopoulos, D. A delayed reaction. Nature 419, 266–267 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/419266a

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