Three Reaction Pathways in the H plus HCO → H2 + CO Reaction

We report quasiclassical trajectory calculations of the H + HCO -> H-2 + CO reaction using a recent global potential energy surface. Three microscopic pathways are identified for this reaction. One is a direct abstraction, and the others both proceed via initial formation of a long-lived complex in the H,CO well followed by reaction (a) over the molecular saddle point transition state or (b) via a roaming pathway previously identified for the unimolecular photodissociation reaction [Townsend et al., Science 2004, 306, 1158]. Cross sections and product internal energy distributions for each pathway are calculated for five initial collision energies.