Selected-ion flow tube studies of reactions of the radical cation (HC3N)+• in the interstellar chemical synthesis of cyanoacetylene

Abstract

The radical cation (HC3N)+• was produced in a Selected-Ion Flow Tube (SIFT) apparatus from cyanoacetylene by electron impact and reacted at room temperature in helium buffer gas with a selection of molecules including H2, CO, HCN, CH4, H2O, O2, HC3N, C2H2, OCS, C2H4, and C4H2. The observed reactions exhibited a wide range of reactivity and a variety of pathways including charge transfer, hydrogen atom transfer, proton transfer, and association. Association reactions were observed with CO, O2, HCN, and HC3N. With the latter two molecules association was observed to proceed close to the collision limit, which is suggestive of covalent bond formation perhaps involving azine-like N—N bonds. For HC3N an equally rapid association has been observed by Buckley etal. with ICR (Ion Cyclotron Resonance) measurements at low pressures and this is suggestive of radiative association. The hydrogen atom transfer reaction of ionized cyanoacetylene with H2 is slow while similar reactions with CH4 and H2O are fast. The reaction with CO fails to transfer a proton. These results have implications for synthetic schemes for cyanoacetylene as proposed in recent models of the chemistry of interstellar gas clouds. Proton transfer was also observed to be curiously unfavourable with all other molecules having a proton affinity higher than (C3N)•. Also, hydrogen-atom transfer was inefficient with the polar molecules HCN and HC3N. These results suggest that interactions at close separations may lead to preferential alignment of the reacting ion and molecule which is not suited for proton transfer or hydrogen atom transfer.