Mechanisms of atom-exchange reactions in rare gas atom–diatom collisions: Kr+NeAr, Ar+ArKr, Kr+Ar2, Xe+Ar2

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Abstract
Atom‐exchange and dissociation reaction cross sections, angular distributions, and product‐energy distributions have been computed for the Kr+NeAr, Kr+Ar2, and Xe+Ar2 van der Waals reactions using Monte Carlo quasiclassical trajectories. Angular and product‐energy distributions were also computed for the Ar+ArKr atom‐exchange reactions. Detailed collision mechanisms are suggested to explain the cross section ratios for the atom‐exchange branching for the two reactions. The trajectory results indicate that the branching ratio is the result of a competition between statistical factors, which tend to favor the more exothermic pathway, and mechanistic factors which tend to favor abstraction of the lighter atom of the reactant diatom through a stripping mechanism.