Rate constant for OH(Π2)+O(P3)→H(S2)+O2(Σg−3) reaction on an improved <i>ab initio</i> potential energy surface and implications for the interstellar oxygen problem

Abstract

The authors report a global potential energy surface for the ground electronic state of HO(2)(X (2)A(")), which improves upon the XXZLG potential [Xu and et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 244305 (2005)] with additional high-level ab initio points for the long-range interaction potential in the O+OH channel. Exact J=0 quantum mechanical reaction probabilities were calculated on the new potential and the rate constant for the title reaction was obtained using a J-shifting method. The calculated rate constant is in good agreement with available experimental values and our results predict a significantly lower rate at temperature range below 30 K, offering a possible explanation for the "interstellar oxygen problem."