Observation of the Hydrogen Migration in the Cation-Induced Fragmentation of the Pyridine Molecules.

Abstract

The ability to selectively control chemical reactions related to biology, combustion, and catalysis has recently attracted much attention. In particular, the hydrogen atom relocation may be used to manipulate bond-breaking and new bond-forming processes and may hold promise for far-reaching applications. Thus, the hydrogen atom migration preceding fragmentation of the gas-phase pyridine molecules by the H(+), H2(+), He(+), He(2+), and O(+) impact has been studied experimentally in the energy range of 5-2000 eV using collision-induced luminescence spectroscopy. Formation of the excited NH(A(3)Π) radicals was observed among the atomic and diatomic fragments. The structure of the pyridine molecule is lacking of the NH group, therefore observation of its A(3)Π → X(3)Σ(-) emission bands is an evidence of the hydrogen atom relocation prior to the cation-induced fragmentation. The NH(A(3)Π) emission yields indicate that formation of the NH radicals depends on the type of selected projectile and can be controlled by tuning its velocity. The plausible collisional mechanisms as well as fragmentation channels for NH formation in pyridine are discussed.