Thermal rate coefficients in collinear versus bent transition state reactions: The N+N2 case study

Zero total angular momentum exact quantum calculations of the probabilities of the N+N2 reaction have been performed on the L3 potential energy surface having a bent transition state. This has allowed us to work out J-shifting estimates of the thermal rate coefficient based on the calculation of either detailed (state-to-state) or cumulative (multiconfiguration) probabilities. The results obtained are used to compare the numerical outcomes and the concurrent computational machineries of both quantum and semiclassical approaches as well as to exploit the potentialities of the J-shifting model. The implications of moving the barrier to reaction from the previously proposed collinear geometry of the LEPS to the bent one of L3 are also investigated by comparing the related detailed reactive probabilities. © 2008 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.