Crossed beam study of the reaction H2+ (CO,H) HCO+ from 0.74 to 9.25 eV

Abstract

We present a study of the reaction H+2 (CO,H) HCO+ from 0.74 to 9.25 eV and the reaction H2+ (CO,H2) CO+ at 1.9 eV. The proton transfer dynamics appear to follow the elastic spectator mechanism fairly well in the low energy regime. At higher energies, the cross section drops rapidly and the backward scattered intensity moves to barycentric speeds beyond the stripping limit. At low energies, the HCO+ products are highly excited, with 90% of the available energy in internal excitation. At higher energies beyond the spectator stripping limit, depletion of the most highly internally excited states occurs through dissociation and roughly 50% of the available energy appears in internal excitation. We present a correlation diagram analysis based upon the H2CO+ surfaces of Vaz Pires et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 69, 3242 (1978)]. Low symmetry collisions lead to conical intersections of H2CO+ surfaces in the entrance channel, providing a pathway for formation of ground state products through the ? 2B2 state of H2CO+.