Coupled‐cluster reaction barriers of : An application of the coupled‐cluster//Kohn–Sham density functional theory model chemistry

In this work, we report a theoretical investigation concerning the use of the popular coupled-cluster//Kohn-Sham density functional theory (CC//KS-DFT) model chemistry, here applied to study the entrance channel of the HO2+H2O+O3 reaction, namely by comparing CC//KS-DFT calculations with KS-DFT, MRPT2//CASSCF, and CC//CASSCF results from our previous investigations. This was done by performing single point energy calculations employing several coupled cluster methods and using KS-DFT geometries optimized with six different functionals, while conducting a detailed analysis of the barrier heights and topological features of the curves and surfaces here obtained. The quality of this model chemistry is critically discussed in the context of the title reaction and also in a wider context.