HELP!(urgent):theoretical discrimication & software



 Dear researchers in computational chemistry,
 I'm a ph.D. student of State University of Ghent, Belgium.
 I'm working with zeolite HZSM-5. The goal of my work is
 to develop a detailed kinetic model for hydrocarbon
 transformation process over HZSM-5 catalyst.
 I have some urgent questions for my ph.D. work, which have
 been discussed with many people who were in the field of
 chemical engineering/organic chemistry/electrical chemistry
 in my university or in the internet.
 So far, I could not get reliable solutions, which have stuck
 me for relatively long time. During searching for the solutions,
 I realized that the best people who can give me an advice are
 in the field of computational chemistry.
 Please take some time to read the following questions
 and give me some informaion/advice if it doesn't bother
 you too much.
 *** About the structure of surface carbenium ions and symmetry number ***
 First thing I have to calculate is the symmetry number
 of surface carbenium ions on the zeolite surface, which
 is formed by protonation of various olefins.
 1. How can we describe the bonding of carbenuim
    ions to the surface?  Is the bonding more
    ionic or covalent?  I know the proton is surely
    covalently bound, but it is less clear for the
    case of hydrocarbons(more exactly olefins) adsorbed
    on zeolite.
 2. What is the symmetry number for such surface carbenium
    ions comparing with corresponding gas phase carbenium
    ions? In most cases, I believe, the symmetry number
    of surface ions are identical with those in gas phase,
    if there is no 2-fold axes.
    Consider the following examples.
              C
               \
                C-C+-C (secondary ion in gas phase)
               /
              C
             symmetry number=3*3*3=27
              C
               \
                C-C-C (secondary ion on the surface)
               /  |
              C   |
               --(+)--
              symmetry number=3*3*3=27
    If there is two-fold axes, however,
                     C
                      \
       2-fold axes.....C+-C-C (tertiary ion in gas phase)
                      /
                     C
                   symmetry number=(3*3*3)*2=54
                            C
                             \
       Not a 2-fold axes(?)...C+-C-C (tertiary on the surface)
                             /|
                            C |
                           --(+)--
                          symmetry number=3*3*3=27
    I think the surface ion loose its 2-fold axes due to
    the bonding to the catalyst surface.
 I just want to know whether those approach to calculate the
 symmetry number of surface carbenium ions is theoretically
 correct.  To check this point, I think, the bonding of carbenium
 ions to the surface should be defined first, in a certain way
 of theoretical approach.
 **** About the structure of activated complex ******
 Next problem that I have to solve is concerning the structure
 of activated complex in transition state for beta-scission.
 That is, an elementary step representing beta-scission,
         R1 ---> (Transition State) ----> R2 + O
 where R1 and R2 are the reactant and product carbenium ion,
 respectively, and O is the product olefin.
 What I want to know is the structure of the activated complex
 in the transition state, as detailed as possible in a certain
 theoretical way; how many bonds are related, which bonds are to
 be broken, which bond will be formed, and what does the activated
 complex look like(is it more like carbenium ion or more like
 olefin?), etc.
 Is there any reference/software to describe the structure
 of activated complex for this reaction in a theoretical way?
 **** About heat of formation for gas phase carbenium ions ***
 My final question is about the calculation of thermodynamic data,
 more exactly, the heat of formation of gas-phase carbenium ions.
 The reason is the following:
 To develop a detailed kinetic model, a complex reaction
 network containing a lot of elementary steps has to be
 considered. Large number of different carbenium ions are
 involved in the elementary steps, which produces large number
 of kinetic parameters that have to be estimated by a certain
 optimization method.
 Recently, a solution to solve the problem associated with
 the large number of the parameters has been considered, i.e,
 by applying the "Polanyi relation".   This relation needs
 only relative differences in heat of reactions in each elementary
 steps.  This means that the heat of formation for the surface
 carbenium ions are not necessary, but, at least, heat of formation
 of gas-phase carbenium ions appearing in the reaction network
 should be given. Unfortunately, only limited amount of data
 can be found in the literature, so that some analytical method
 to calculate the heat of formation is necessary.
 Benson's group contribution method has been known as one of
 the most approprate way to calculate the thermodydamic properties.
 The group contribution value of positively-charged carbon atom
 involved in the carbenium ions is, however, not available at
 the moment.
 The only solution I found recently is using a certain quantum
 chemistry package such as "MOPAC". My question is that is this
 a suitable package (accurate enough) to calculate the heat of
 formation data I need? If so, how can I obtain a copy of this
 package? If not, is there any other software in the field of
 computational chemistry to calculate these data?
 *************** End of my questions *************************
 Thank you very much for reading my long message. Since I'm not
 familar with computational chemistry field, some of my questions
 would make you feel boring or make you think that this is too
 basic/stupid questions.  I'm really sorry if it is really so.
 Any suggestions/informations will be greatly appreciated.
 Particularly, infomation on some computational chemistry softwares
 (name of the software/how to get it) which give some theoretical
 point of view on these problems will give me a great help.
 Thanks again for your patience and I am highly looking forward to
 hearing any news from you soon.
 				Sincerely,
 				     Park, TAE-YUN
 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Laboratorium voor Petrochemische Techniek
 Krijgslaan 281, Blok S5
 9000 Gent, Belgium
 TEL:+(32)-0(9)-264-4527
 FAX:+(32)-0(9)-264-4999
 e-mail: tp (+ at +) elptrs7.rug.ac.be
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