@article{ChoudhuryDeVineSinhaetal.2022,
  author    = {Choudhury, Arnab and DeVine, Jessalyn A. A. and Sinha, Shreya and Lau, Jascha Alexander and Kandratsenka, Alexander and Schwarzer, Dirk and Saalfrank, Peter and Wodtke, Alec Michael},
  title     = {Condensed-phase isomerization through tunnelling gateways},
  series = {Nature : the international weekly journal of science},
  volume    = {612},
  journal   = {Nature : the international weekly journal of science},
  number    = {7941},
  publisher = {Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {0028-0836},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41586-022-05451-0},
  pages     = {691 -- 695},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Quantum mechanical tunnelling describes transmission of matter waves through a barrier with height larger than the energy of the wave(1). Tunnelling becomes important when the de Broglie wavelength of the particle exceeds the barrier thickness; because wavelength increases with decreasing mass, lighter particles tunnel more efficiently than heavier ones. However, there exist examples in condensed-phase chemistry where increasing mass leads to increased tunnelling rates(2). In contrast to the textbook approach, which considers transitions between continuum states, condensed-phase reactions involve transitions between bound states of reactants and products. Here this conceptual distinction is highlighted by experimental measurements of isotopologue-specific tunnelling rates for CO rotational isomerization at an NaCl surface(3,4), showing nonmonotonic mass dependence. A quantum rate theory of isomerization is developed wherein transitions between sub-barrier reactant and product states occur through interaction with the environment. Tunnelling is fastest for specific pairs of states (gateways), the quantum mechanical details of which lead to enhanced cross-barrier coupling; the energies of these gateways arise nonsystematically, giving an erratic mass dependence. Gateways also accelerate ground-state isomerization, acting as leaky holes through the reaction barrier. This simple model provides a way to account for tunnelling in condensed-phase chemistry, and indicates that heavy-atom tunnelling may be more important than typically assumed.},
  language  = {en}
}