Reaction Rate Maxima at Large Distances between Reactants

Authors

  • Martin Kuss-Petermann Department of Chemistry University of Basel St. Johanns-Ring 19 CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
  • Oliver S. Wenger Department of Chemistry University of Basel St. Johanns-Ring 19 CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. oliver.wenger@unibas.ch

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2016.177

Keywords:

Charge separation, Electronic coupling, Electron transfer, Marcus theory, Reorganization energy

Abstract

One commonly thinks that two reactants need to come very close to one another in order for a chemical reaction to occur. This is true for most reaction types, but electron transfer is an exception in this regard. It is a well-documented fact that electron transfers can occur over long distances (?15 Å), but it is much less well-known that theory predicts a regime in which electron transfer rates in crease with increasing distance between reactants. This contribution explains the physical origin of this counter-intuitive behavior, and it identifies a set of conditions that might facilitate its experimental observation.

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Published

2016-03-30

Issue

Section

Scientific Articles

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