Potential Energy Surfaces for Reactions of X Metal Atoms (X = Cu, Zn, Cd, Ga, Al, Au, or Hg) with YH4 Molecules (Y = C, Si, or Ge) and Transition Probabilities at Avoided Crossings in Some Cases

We review ab initio studies based on quantum mechanics on the most important mechanisms of reaction leading to the C–H, Si–H, and Ge–H bond breaking of methane, silane, and germane, respectively, by a metal atom in the lowest states in Cs symmetry: X(2nd excited state, 1st excited state and ground state)