Theoretical Study on Mechanism of Reaction of OH with HO₂NO₂

The reaction of HO2NO2 (peroxynitric acid, PNA) with OH was studied by the hybrid density functional B3LYP and CBS-QB3 methods. Based on the calculated potential energy surface, five reaction channels, H2O+NO2+O2, HOOH+NO3, NO2+HO3H, HO2+HONO2 and HO2+HOONO, were examined in detail. The major reaction channel is PNA+OH→M1→TS1→H2O+NO2+O2. Taking a pre-equilibrium approximation and using the CBS-QB3 energies, the theoretical rate constant of this channel was calculated as 1.13×10-12 cm3/(molecule s) at 300 K, in agreement with the experimental result. Comparison between reactions of HOONO2+OH and HONO2+OH was carried out. For HOR+OH reactions, the total rate constants increase from R=NO2 to R=ONO2, which is consistent with experimental measurements.