Mechanisms for reactions of trimethylaluminum with molecular oxygen and water

Abstract (CH 3 ) 3 Al (TMA) has been employed for preparation of various thin films. It is also known to be hypergolic in the air. To unveil the hypergolic phenomenon, the mechanism for the reaction of TMA with O 2 and/or H 2 O molecules is studied using computational quantum methods. Our results show that TMA reacts with water much faster than with O 2 , and water is not an efficient catalyst to help O 2 reacting with TMA. The reactions of TMA with water and oxygen molecules can undergo subsequent ones in the air. However, the barrier predicted for production of CH 3 was found to be too high for combustion initiation under the ambient condition.