CATALYZED RECOMBINATION OF NITROGEN ATOMS, AND THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF A SECOND ACTIVE SPECIESIN ACTIVE NITROGEN

Abstract

The reactions of ethylene, ethane, and ammonia with active nitrogen have been studied over the pressure range 0.3 to 4 mm usinganunheatedreaction vessel. The object was to determine why each reactant shows, as is well-known, a smaller extent of reaction at lower temperatures than would be predicted from the atom concentration. It was concluded that ethylene probably brought about homogeneouscatalyzedrecombination, i.e. the process [Formula: see text] followed by N + N•C2H4 → N2 + C2H4. The over-all third-order rate constant appeared to be very large, about 1.8 × 10−28 cc2 molecule−2 sec−1. The behavior of ammonia was quite different from that of ethylene and it was, in fact, possible to show that the extent of reaction was not governed by the instantaneous atom concentration at all. The results can be explained qualitatively, however, if it is assumed that excited molecules formed in the course of homogeneous atom decay constitute a second active species in active nitrogen. This view serves also to explain the failure in such work as that of Kistiakowsky etal. to observe ammonia destruction or excited molecules when especially low atom concentrations are used. The few experiments involving ethane were sufficient to show that the reactivity was low for a different reason than with ethylene.