Theoretical studies on gas-phase reactions of sulfuric acid catalyzed hydrolysis of formaldehyde and formaldehyde with sulfuric acid and H ₂SO₄⋯H₂O complex

The gas-phase reactions of sulfuric acid catalyzed hydrolysis of formaldehyde and formaldehyde with sulfuric acid and H₂SO ₄⋯H₂O complex are investigated employing the high-level quantum chemical calculations with M06-2X and CCSD(T) theoretical methods and the conventional transition state theory (CTST) with Eckart tunneling correction. The calculated results show that the energy barrier of hydrolysis of formaldehyde in gas phase is lowered to 6.09 kcal/mol from 38.04 kcal/mol, when the sulfuric acid is acted as a catalyst at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pv(T+d)z//M06-2X/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level of theory. Furthermore, the rate constant of the sulfuric acid catalyzed hydrolysis of formaldehyde combined with the concentrations of the species in the atmosphere demonstrates that the gas-phase hydrolysis of formaldehyde of sulfuric acid catalyst is feasible and could be of great importance for the sink of formaldehyde, which is in previously forbidden hydrolysis reaction. However, it is shown that the gas-phase reactions of formaldehyde with sulfuric acid and H₂SO ₄⋯H₂O complex lead to the formation of H ₂C(OH)OSO₃H, which is of minor importance in the atmosphere.