The ground-state potential energy surface (PES) for the Sc + H2O reaction has been studied at the B3LYP/TZVP and B3LYP/6-311++G(3df, 3pd) levels of theory. The calculations showed that a molecular complex Sc-OH2 forms first, followed by HScOH via hydrogen transfer. HScOH, the lowest point on the PES, can eliminate H-2 to form ScO + H-2. The overall reaction is exothermic and proceeds without any barrier above Sc + H2O. Three additional channels leading to HScO, ScOH and ScH are also analyzed. The effects of using the two different basis sets are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.