Kinetic Study of the Reactions of Gas Phase Pd(aS0), Ag(5s 2S1/2), Au(6s 2S1/2), Cd(5s 1S0), and Hg(6s2 1S0) Atoms with Nitrous Oxide

Abstract

The reactivity of gas-phase Pd(a1S0), Ag(5s 2S1/2), Au(6s 2S1/2), Cd(5s2 1S0), and Hg(6s2 1S0) with N2O as a function of temperature and pressure is reported. The transition metal atoms were produced by the photodissociation of an appropriate precursor molecule and detected by laser-induced fluorescence. The reaction of palladium with N2O is pressure dependent indicating adduct formation. The room-temperature limiting low-pressure third-order rate constant is (2.5 ± 0.8) × 10-30 molecule-2 cm6 s-1 in argon buffer. The limiting low-pressure third-order rate constant can be expressed as log k0(T) = −219.06 + 152(log T) − 30.5(log T)2 molecule-2 cm6 s-1 over the temperature range 294−523 K. The reactions of ground-state silver, gold, cadmium, and mercury with N2O are very slow, and only upper limits for the rate constants can be reported for these reactions.