Reactive scattering of CN + D2: the stereodynamics

Abstract

The title reaction was studied in a crossed-beam apparatus. The dependencies of both integral and doubly differential cross sections on the initial collision energies were measured. From the appearance of the excitation function, a barrier height of ∼ 3 kcal/mol was deduced, which is lower than the currently accepted value by as much as 1 kcal/mol. Both the product speed and angle distributions show an anomalous dependence on the initial collision energies. These results can be reconciled by taking into account the steric effects and the adiabaticity between CN rotation and HCN bend.