Generalized electronic diabatic approach to structural similarity and the Hammond postulate

摘要

We revisit the notion of structural similarity along a reaction path within the context of a generalized electronic diabatic (GED) molecular model. In this approach, a reaction involving two closed-shell stable species is described as the evolution of a quantum state that superimposes at least three diabatic electronic species (reactant, product, and an open-shell transition state) coupled by an external electromagnetic field. Reactant and product amplitudes in this general state are also modulated by changing the geometry of a system of classical positive charges interacting with the electrons. By mapping these amplitudes over nuclear configurational space, we can follow the total quantum state along a reaction coordinate and establish its similarity to each of the diabatic species. As a result, chemical processes, and useful notions such as those of energy barriers and the Hammond postulate, emerge as consequence of Franck-Condon-like transitions between quantum states. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.