Abstraction of Hydrogen Atoms from Isobutane‐d9 by Methylene

Abstract
The photolysis of ketene at 3130 Å in the presence of isobutane‐d9 was carried out at 320°C in order to determine the mechanism of methyl‐radical formation. The two possibilities considered are: Mechanism I—insertion followed by internal relaxation and finally expulsion of a methyl radical, and Mechanism II—direct abstraction. Mechanism II was found to be the only detectable mode of methyl‐radical formation. The effect of pressure on the isotopic methane distribution was studied and an attempt is made to explain the effect in terms of long‐lived excited pentanes.
Keywords

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: