The mechanisms for the self- and cross-reactions of anti-CH3CHOO and syn-CH3CHOO conformers have been investigated by ab initio quantum-chemical and statistical-theory calculations. The results of the study indicate that at 298 K under 5-Torr He pressure, the self-reaction of anti-CH3CHOO is the fastest with kaa = 4.90 × 10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, the anti-syn cross-reaction with kas = 1.82 × 10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, and the self-reaction of syn-CH3CHOO with kss = 1.28 × 10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1. The theoretical results, including the deactivation of internally excited dimers formed by initial bimolecular association reactions accounting for more than 50% of the predicted rates, agree with the recent experimental data within reported errors measured at 298 K and 2-10 Torr He pressure.
Trac et al. (2026) studied this question.