This study further extends the scope of a previous paper [Y. Ferro and A. Allouche, J. Chem. Phys. 118, 10461 (2003)] on the reactivity of atomic Na with water to some other highly polar molecules known for their solvation properties connected to efficient hydrogen bonding. The solvation mechanisms of
ammonia and
methanol are compared to the hydration mechanism. It is shown that in the case of
ammonia, the stability of the solvated system is only ensured by electrostatic interactions, whereas the
methanol action is more similar to that of water. More specific attention is given to the solvation process of the valence 3s Na electron. The consequences on the chemical reactivity are analyzed: Whereas
ammonia is nonreactive when interacting with atomic
sodium, two chemical reactions are proposed for
methanol. The first process is dehydrogenation and yields methoxy species and
hydrogen. The other one is
dehydration and the final products are methoxy species, but also
methyl radical and water. The respective roles of electron solvation and hydrogen bonds network are analyzed in detail in view of the density of states of the reactive systems.