A CASPT2 investigation of the photodissociation reactions of methyl formate in the S1 and T1 states

In this study, we revisit the photodissociation reactions of methyl formate in the T1 and S1 states. The geometries of the transition states of the dissociation channels to CH3O + HCO, CH3OCO + H, and CH3 + HCO2 in the S1 and T1 states are optimized at the CAS(10,8) level of theory with 6-311G(2df,2pd) and 6-31G(d,p) basis sets. According to the CASPT2 calculations, the dissociation to CH3O + HCO on the S1 surface is the dominant reaction in the photodissociation of methyl formate, and the dissociation to CH3 + HCO2 on the S1 surface is the minor one.