Chapter 13 Theoretical and Experimental Studies of the Gas-Phase Cl-Atom Initiated Reactions of Benzene and Toluene

The reactions of benzene (Bz) and toluene (PhMe) with chlorine atoms in the gas phase have been studied using both theoretical and experimental techniques. Energy and geometry of reaction complexes and transition states were calculated in the Cl-atom initiated reaction of benzene and toluene using modern hybrid functional PBE0 method with the aug-pc1 basis set with an additional CCSD(T)/aug-CC-pVDZ energy single point calculation. Three stationary structures have been found for the Bz... Cl complex: hexahapto-complex, pi-complex and or-complex. The first one is a transition state between two opposite pi-complexes. PhMe... Cl has additional structures due to ipso-, ortho-, meto- and para-isomerization. The stability of all calculated complexes was determined and compared. Two reaction pathways for benzene and toluene with a Cl atom were evaluated: (a) the hydrogen abstraction of benzene and toluene by Cl atom, which is seemingly barrierless and endothermic, and (b) the hydrogen substitution reaction that in contrast has a relatively high energy of activation. Rate coefficients for these same reactions were measured using ethane, n-butane, and chloro-, dichloro- and trichloromethane, as reference compounds, with gas chromatography equipped with mass detection spectrometry and flame ionization detection (GC-MSD and GC-FID). The reaction rates were estimated as (5.57 +/- 0.15) x 10(-11) and <= 1 x 10(-15) cm(3)/(molecule s) for benzene and toluene, respectively. Chlorinated products of the reactions were analyzed by GS-MS. Chlorobenzene was the only identified product between a reaction of benzene and the Cl atom. The major products of the PhMe + Cl reaction were chloromethylbenzene with ortho- and para-chlorotoluenes.