REACTION DYNAMICS OF VIBRATIONALLY EXCITED H2

The quantum state resolved product state distribution of the reactions O(1D)+H-2(nu=0,1)-->OH(2PI, nu, J, OMEGA, LAMBDA)+H and C(1D)+H-2(nu=0,1)-->CH(2PI, nu, J, OMEGA, LAMBDA)+H were analysed by laser-induced fluorescence. For studying the influence of vibrational excitation on the reaction dynamics, H-2 was excited to its first vibrational state via stimulated Raman pumping. For both reactions H-2(nu=1) increases the reaction rate, but diminishes the LAMBDA selectivity. Insertion of the atomic collision partner into the H-2 bond is the major reaction mechanism, but the probability for an abstraction process seems to increase when H-2 is vibrationally excited. The influence of translational energy on the reaction dynamics is observed for product states near the energetical limit. In the case of O(1D)+H-2 a significant amount of collision energy is transferred into OH rotation, while the reaction of C(1D)+H-2 transfers translational energy into vibrationally excited CH products.