Insights into dynamics of the F+CD4 reaction via product pair correlation

To unravel the "extra-atom" complexity of the title reaction, we exploit an experimental approach which, by taking advantage of the correlated information of coincident product pairs, allows us to peel off judiciously the intrinsic complications of a six-atom reaction, extracting the underlying backbone of three-atom dynamics. Examining the collisional energy dependencies of the pair-correlated attributes for a given state(s) of CD3 products from the title reaction, several of major observations can qualitatively be understood, whereas others await further theoretical investigations. An intriguing possibility for the existence of reactive resonances in this six-atom reaction is surmised. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.