On the mechanism of decomposition of the benzyl radical

The C7H7 potential energy surface was studied from first principles to determine the benzyl radical decomposition mechanism. The investigated high temperature reaction pathway involves 15 accessible energy wells connected by 25 transition states. The analysis of the potential energy surface, performed determining kinetic constants of each elementary reaction using conventional transition state theory, evidenced that the reaction mechanism has as rate determining step the isomerization of the 1,3-cyclopentadiene, 5-vinyl radical to the 2-cyclopentene,5-ethenylidene radical and that the fastest reaction channel is dissociation to fulvenallene and hydrogen. This is in agreement with the literature evidences reporting that benzyl decomposes to hydrogen and a C7H6 species. The benzyl high-pressure decomposition rate constant estimated assuming equilibrium between the rate determining step transition state and benzyl is k1(T) = 1.44 × 1013T0.453exp(−38400/T) s−1, in good agreement with the literature data. As fulvenallene reactivity is mostly unknown, we investigated its reaction with hydrogen, which has been proposed in the literature as a possible decomposition route. The reaction proceeds fast both backward to form again benzyl and, if hydrogen adds to allene, forward toward the decomposition into the cyclopentadienyl radical and acetylene with high-pressure kinetic constants k2(T) = 8.82 × 108T1.20exp(1016/T) and k3(T) = 1.06 × 108T1.35exp(1716/T) cm3/mol/s, respectively. The computed rate constants were then inserted in a detailed kinetic mechanism and used to simulate shock tube literature experiments.