Crossed-Beam Imaging of the H Abstraction Channel in the Reaction of CN with 1-Pentene

Abstract

The reaction of the cyano radical with 1-pentene has been studied in crossed molecular beams experiments at a range of collision energies from 5 to 9 kcal/mol. In these studies, the pentenyl radical product is probed using single-photon ionization at 157 nm, and the product flux contour map is obtained directly using DC slice imaging. The results clearly demonstrate the presence of the hydrogen abstraction channel in this reaction, which has largely been neglected in studies of analogous systems. The reaction likely gives rise to the resonantly stabilized C5H9 radical. The yield of this channel is estimated by comparison to the reaction of the cyano radical with n-pentane. The results have implications for hydrocarbon growth and nitrile incorporation in formation of haze particles on Saturn’s moon, Titan.