The H+n-C5H12/n-C6H14→H2(v′,j′)+C5H11/C6H13 reactions: State-to-state dynamics and models of energy disposal

Abstract

The rovibrational state distributions for the H2 product of the H+n-C5H12/n-C6H14→H2+C5H11/C6H13 reactions at 1.6 eV collision energy are reported. The results are compared to measurements made on the kinematically and energetically similar H+RH→H2+R (RH=CH4, C2H6, and C3H8) reactions as well as the atom–diatom reactions H+HX→H2+X(HX=HCl, HBr). For the title reactions, as for all the comparison reactions, the product appears in few of the energetically accessible states. This is interpreted as the result of a kinematic constraint on the product translational energy. Characteristic of the H+RH reactions we have previously studied, the title reactions show increasing rotational excitation of the H2 product with increasing vibrational excitation of it, a correlation that gets stronger as the size of the alkane increases. Trends and variations in the product energy disposal are analyzed and explained by a localized reaction model. This model predicates a truncation of the opacity function due to competing reactive sites in the polyatomic alkane reactant, and a relaxation of the otherwise tight coupling of energy and angular momentum conservation, because the polyatomic alkyl radical product is a sink for angular momentum.