Vibrational mode effects, scattering dynamics, and energy disposal in reaction of C2H+2 with methane

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Abstract
The effects of collision energy and mode‐selective vibrational excitation on the reaction of C2H+2 with CH4 and CD4 have been measured, along with the corresponding product velocity distributions. Two distinct reaction mechanisms are active in the energy range below 5 eV. At low energies, a long‐lived C3H+6 complex forms efficiently, then decomposes primarily to C3H+5+H and C3H+4+H2. The RRKM lifetime of this complex is estimated to range between ∼10 ns and ∼10 ps over the experimental energy range, and this is sufficient time to allow substantial H‐atom scrambling. Complex formation is strongly inhibited by collision energy, weakly inhibited by CC stretching, and enhanced by bending excitation. Competing with the complex‐mediated mechanism is a direct H‐atom abstraction reaction, producing C2H+3+CH3 with little atom scrambling. This reaction is shown to have a ∼150 meV activation barrier and is strongly enhanced by collision energy, becoming the dominant channel above 0.4 eV. CC stretching provides a weaker enhancement than collision energy, while bending enhances the reaction ∼10 times more efficiently. As collision energies increase, the C2H+3 product is increasingly forward scattered with an increasing fraction of the available energy going into recoil. Energy put into reactant vibration mostly is retained as internal energy of the products. Over the collision energy range from 0.4 to 2.8 eV, the collision time in the direct reaction varies from ≥1.3 ps to ≤70 fs.

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