Interest in the observation and characterization of organic isomers in astronomical environments has grown rapidly with an increase in the sensitivity of detection techniques. Accurate modeling and interpretation of these environments require experimental isomer-specific reactivity and spectroscopic measurements. Given the abundance of formaldehyde (HCO) in various astrophysical objects, the properties and reactivities of its cation isomers HCO and HCOH are of significant interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gas phase reactivity of the radical cation isomers HCNH˙ (methanimine) and HCNH˙ (aminomethylene) with propene (CHCHCH) has been investigated by measuring absolute reactive cross sections and product branching ratios, under single collision conditions, as a function of collision energy (in the range ∼0.07-11.80 eV) using guided ion beam mass spectrometry coupled with VUV photoionization for selective isomer generation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report a study on the reactive collision of S+(4S) with H2, HD, and D2 combining guided ion beam experiments and quantum-mechanical calculations. It is found that the reactive cross sections reflect the existence of two different mechanisms, one being spin-forbidden. Using different models, we demonstrate that the spin-forbidden pathway follows a complex mechanism involving three electronic states instead of two as previously thought.
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