Three Reaction Pathways in the H + 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(2)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.