Crossed molecular beams kinetics: SnO recoil velocity spectra from Sn+O2

Abstract

Laboratory (LAB) angular and time-of-flight (TOF) recoil velocity spectra of SnO product produced by crossing a thermal Sn beam with an O2 nozzle beam have been measured in a molecular beam apparatus equipped with an electron bombardment ionizer–quadrupole mass filter ’’universal’’ detector. Product center-of-mass (c.m.) recoil angle and energy distributions have been fit to the data by convoluting the c.m.→LAB transformation over the measured speed distributions in both beams and the instrumental TOF resolution. The results establish that the Sn+O2 bimolecular reaction proceeds via formation of an osculating or long-lived SnO2 collision intermediate. In addition, comparison of observed LAB product signals have established approximate relative total cross sections for reaction of Sn with O2, CO2, SO2, N2O, CH3OH, and CH3NO2.