Journal of Chemical Physics 105: ???-??? (1996)

Variational transition state theory for electron transfer reactions in solution

Ilan Benjamin and Eli Pollak

Chemical Physics Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

Variational transition state theory is used to compute the rate of non-adiabatic electron transfer for a model of two sets of shifted harmonic oscillators. The calculations provide new insight on the suitability of the enegy gap as a reaction coordinate. The relationship to the standard generalized Langevin equation model of electron transfer is established, and provides a framework for the application of variational transition state theory in a realistic simulation of electron transfer in a microscopic (non-linear) bath.