Dynamics of the O + acetylene and O + ethylene reactions from crossed beam experiments with soft electron-ionization detection: Primary products and branching ratios

PHYS 605

P. Casavecchia, piero@dyn.unipg.it, F. Leonori, G. Capozza, E. Segoloni, N. Balucani, and G. G. Volpi. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto, 8, Perugia, 06123, Italy
The reactions of O(3P) with C2H2 and C2H4 play a key role in the overall mechanisms for hydrocarbon combustion. Despite intensive experimental/theoretical investigations, the detailed reaction dynamics (primary products, branching ratios) were still not well understood. We have investigated these reactions in crossed molecular beam (CMB) experiments with mass-spectrometric detection. By exploiting “soft” electron-ionization detection, from product angular and velocity distribution measurements in the laboratory frame, product angular and translational energy distributions in the center-of-mass and branching ratios were determined for all competing channels. The branching ratios are compared and found in agreement with recent theoretical (statistical) determinations; comparisons are also made (for O+C2H4) with the results of direct dynamics calculations.
 

PHYS Poster Session - Computational Spectroscopy and Reaction Dynamics
7:30 PM-10:00 PM, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Physical Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008