Abstract
Reactions of neutral, ground-state yttrium atoms with formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone (Y+RR′CO, where R,R′=H,CH3) were studied in crossed molecular beams. At collision energies greater than 24 kcal/mol, four product channels were observed corresponding to elimination of CO, H2, H, and nonreactive scattering. For the dominant CO elimination channel, a large fraction (34%–41%) of the available energy appeared as kinetic energy of the products. RRKM modeling indicated this was a result of two factors: a large potential energy barrier for R′ migration leading to (R)(R′)YCO and dissociation of this complex prior to complete energy randomization. The CM angular distributions were all forward–backward symmetric, indicating the existence of at least one long-lived reaction intermediate. The angular distributions ranged from being quite forward–backward peaking for the Y+H2CO reaction to isotropic for Y+(CH3)2CO. A simple equation is derived based on statistical complex theory that relates the shape of the CM angular distributions to the structure of the dissociating complex.
Published Version
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