Vibrational mode-selected differential scattering of NH3+ methanol (d1, d3, d4):: Control of product branching by hydrogen-bonded complex formation

We report a study of vibrational mode effects and differential scattering in reaction of NH3+ with CD3OD, CD3OH, and CH3OD over the collision energy range from 0.1 to 5 eV. At low collision energies, abstraction of both methyl and hydroxyl D atoms is observed with roughly equal probability, even though methyl D-abstraction should be favored on both energetic and statistical grounds. Branching between the two abstraction reactions is controlled by two different hydrogen-bonded complexes. Formation of these complexes is enhanced by NH: umbrella bending, unaffected by the NH3+ symmetric stretch, and inhibited by collision energy. Endoergic proton transfer is mediated at low energies by a third hydrogen-bonded complex, formation of which is enhanced by both umbrella bending and the symmetric stretch. Charge transfer (CT) has a significant cross section only when the NH3+ umbrella bend excitation exceeds the endoergicity. Collision energy and symmetric stretching appear to have no effect on CT. At high collision energies all reactions become direct, with near spectator stripping dynamics. In this energy range product branching appears to be controlled by collision geometry and there are no significant vibrational effects. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.