Collisions of F(2P1/2) with H2

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Abstract
The role of spin‐orbit and nonadiabatic effects in the reaction of F atoms with H2 is discussed, Ground and excited FH2 potential energy surfaces and the required interactions between them are computed by the diatomics‐in‐molecules method. Using an approximate semiclassical procedure, thermal rate constants for reaction and quenching of F(2P1/2) are estimated to be 1.2 and 8.4×10−12 cm3 mol−1 · sec−1, respectively. Since the former is about an order of magnitude smaller than previously reported calculations of the rate constant for reaction of F(2P3/2) with H2, these results predict a substantial difference in reactivity between the 2P3/2 and 2P1/2 fine structure states of atomic fluorine.