paper

A quantum informational approach for dissecting chemical reactions

arXiv:1409.4867 · doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2015.01.005

Abstract

We present a conceptionally different approach to dissect bond-formation processes in metal-driven catalysis using concepts from quantum information theory. Our method uses the entanglement and correlation among molecular orbitals to analyze changes in electronic structure that accompany chemical processes. As a proof-of-principle example, the evolution of nickel-ethene bond-formation is dissected which allows us to monitor the interplay of back-bonding and -donation along the reaction coordinate. Furthermore, the reaction pathway of nickel-ethene complexation is analyzed using quantum chemistry methods revealing the presence of a transition state. Our study supports the crucial role of metal-to-ligand back-donation in the bond-forming process of nickel-ethene.

7 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (5)

Cited by in corpus (1)