THE HYDROGEN-ATOM CHANNEL IN THE PHOTODISSOCIATION OF ETHYLENE

The photodissociation of ethylene at 193 nm is studied by laser induced fluorescence of the hydrogen atom product. The quantum yield for producing deuterium atoms from C2D4 is 0.19 ± 0.04. Their average translational energy is 7.3 ± 1.3 and 15.1 ± 1.4 kcal/mol at 193 and 157 nm, respectively. Considerable evidence, both experimental and theoretical, shows that dissociation takes place from a hot internally equilibrated ground state molecule. A remarkable isotope effect is found. The ratio of H atoms to D atoms released from CH2CD2 is 2.2 ± 0.2, whereas that from t-CHDCHD is 1.2 ± 0.1. An RRKM model explains these ratios. For CH2CD2 the vibrational frequencies of the transition state for releasing H atoms are quite different from those for the release of D atoms. In t-CHDCHD, the transition state frequencies are nearly the same; there is a cancellation between differing zero point energies and moments of inertia. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.