On the Origin of the Electronically Excited C2* Radical in Hydrocarbon Flames

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Abstract
An isotopic tracer experiment, using carbon 13, has been performed to determine whether the excited C2 radical in acetylene flames comes directly from the carbon pair of the acetylene burned. In the flame studied, the greater part of the C2* which radiates does not come from this source, but is produced in some series of reactions in which the —C≡C— bond is broken prior to the appearance of C2*. It is shown further that most of the C2* cannot arise from the random breakup of polymers or incipient carbon particles formed by direct polymerization of acetylene. The results appear to favor the choice of a reaction between single‐carbon fragments as the predominant source of C2*.

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