A theoretical study on the decomposition mechanism of β-propiolactone and β-butyrolactone

The reaction mechanism associated with the decomposition of β-propiolactone and β-butyrolactone in the gas phase to form carbon dioxide and ethylene or propene, respectively, has been theoretically characterized by using analytical gradients at the B3LYP/6-31G**, B3LYP/6-31++G**, MP2/6-31G** and MP2/6-31++G** calculation levels, as well as by single point calculations at QCISD(T)/6-31++G**//MP2/6-31++G**. A detailed analysis of the results points out that the reaction pathway can be described as an asynchronous concerted process. The geometrical parameters and the components of the transition vector are weakly dependent on the computational method. By applying transition state theory, a good agreement between theoretical and observed values for the rate coefficient points out the validity of the theoretical methods.