Biasing a transition state search to locate multiple reaction pathways

A variety of chemical systems exhibit multiple reaction pathways that adjoin to a common reactant state. In fact, any reaction producing side products or proceeding via a stable intermediate involves a species possessing at least two reaction pathways. Despite improvements in ab initio transition-state search algorithms it remains difficult to detect multiple reaction pathways. Typically, multiple reaction pathways can only be detected by intuitively varying the initial point in the transition-state search trajectory. This reliance on intuition limits the ability to discover new and unexpected chemistry using ab initio methods. This paper proposes a systematic and intuition-free method for biasing a transition-state search to identify multiple reaction pathways originating from a common reactant state. The method allows the successive location of transition states, with each successful search contributing to a cumulative bias potential for the following search. The method is applicable to all psuedo-Newton–Raphson-type transition-state searches. The procedure was tested for a model potential energy surface and for the thermal rearrangement of trans-1,4-dimethylcyclobutene. In the latter case, four reaction pathways were discovered: two exothermic conrotatory ring openings leading to hexadienes, an endothermic methyl migration pathway leading to a carbene, and an exothermic rearrangement leading to 3-methyl-1,4-pentadiene. In accordance with experiment, the calculations predict that the conrotatory pathway leading to trans,trans-2,4-hexadiene is the kinetically dominant pathway. The methodology was also used to compute selectivities for competitive pathways producing trans and cis triflouropentadiene products in the thermal rearrangement of 3-triflouromethyl-cyclobutene. Again, results were in accord with experimental observations.