Theoretical study on the gas phase reaction of sulfuric acid with hydroxyl radical in the presence of water.

The reactions of H2SO4 with the OH radical without water and with water are investigated employing the quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2df,2p) and MP2/aug-cc-pv(T+d)z levels of theory, respectively. The calculated results show that the reaction of H2SO4 with OH and H2O is a very complex mechanism because of the formation of the prereactive complex prior to the transition state and product. There are two prereactive complexes with stabilization energies being -20.28 and -20.67 kcal/mol, respectively. In addition, the single water can lower the energy barriers of the hydrogen abstraction and the proton transfer to 7.51 and 6.37 kcal/mol, respectively from 13.79 and 8.82 kcal/mol with respect to the corresponding prereactive complex. The computed rate constants indicate that the water-assisted reaction of sulfuric acid with OH radical is of greater importance than the reaction of the naked sulfuric acid with the OH radical because the rate constant of the water-assisted process is about 10(3) faster than that of the reaction sulfuric acid with OH. Therefore, the conclusion is obtained that the water-assisted process plays an important role in the sink for the gaseous sulfuric acid in the clean area.