Turning to the effect of applying an OEEF, we observe that significant catalysis of the dissociation event is possible in principle: at an electric field strength of -0.1 V Å -1 aligned with the dipole moment, the approximate dissociation energy is reduced to about 9 kcal/mol, and at -0.3 V Å -1 , the dissociation becomes even more favorable: at no point along the relaxed scan performed does the relative (free) energy exceed 6 kcal/mol, and at full dissociation, the relative energy has returned to essentially zero (despite the apparent emergence of a barrier, we were unable to locate one explicitly).