A CROSSED-BEAM STUDY OF THE STATE-RESOLVED DYNAMICS OF CH(X 2-PI)+D2 .2. THE ISOTOPIC EXCHANGE CHANNEL

The state-to-state integral cross sections for the isotopic exchange reaction of CH(X 2Π) with D2 to produce CD(X 2Π) have been measured in a crossed-beam apparatus by the laser-induced fluorescence method. Two types of measurements were performed: (1) the translational energy dependence of an individual quantum state of the product and (2) the state distribution of the products at fixed and well-defined translational energy. To understand some of the finer details of the reaction dynamics similar experiments were also carried out on the reaction CD(X 2Π) with H2 to give CH(X2Π). For the isotopic exchange channel, the cross section decreased rapidly with increasing translational energy, signifying a complex formation reaction mechanism. The CD(CH) product rotational level distributions are substantially colder than a statistical expectation and are interpreted as the result of a multiple-impact collision between the receding products in the exit channel. A novel frequency-locking mechanism, similar to that proposed to understand the dynamics of inelastic collisions between CH and D2 (the preceding paper), is suggested to explain anomalous peaks in the product rotational level distribution for the isotopic exchange channel. However, the fine-structure state distributions for the reactive process, which are very different from that for the inelastic channel, cannot be rationalized by conventional interpretation. Some basic concepts about fine-structure selectivity in chemical reactions have been developed. With these concepts, it is conjectured that the fine-structure state distributions of open-shell molecules arising from reactive encounters could provide a "fingerprint" of the electronic wave function at the transition state. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.