The first-principle study on the stability of trans-HCOH in various solvents

We attempt to study about the solvent effects of the stability of trans-HCOH molecules using the density-functional theory. Experimentally, trans-HCOH rearranges to H₂CO with half-life of two hours [1] which we theoretically proved that it occurs through quantum tunneling. [2] In this work, we calculate the rearrangement rate of the molecules in various solvents. The solvents are selected based on their dielectric constant values, from lower to higher ones; they are benzene, dichloroethane, benzaldehyde, acetone, methanol, ethanediol, dimethylsulfoxide, formic acid, water, and formamide. We use polarizable continuum to model the solvents (PCM). We begin from determining the reaction path from trans-HCOH to H₂CO and its corresponding energy barrier using intrinsic reaction coordinate calculation with PCM. Then, we use Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation to calculate the rearrangement rates. The calculation results showed a general trend in which there were arrangement rate was decreasing inversely proportional to dielectric constant value. (paper)