Rate coefficients for the endothermic reactions C+(^2P)+H2(D2)→CH^+(CD^+)+H(D) as functions of temperature from 400–1300 K

Abstract

We have measured the bimolecular rate coefficients for the reactions of C+(2P) with H2 and D2 as functions of temperature from 400 to 1300 K using a high temperatureflowing afterglow apparatus. The temperature dependences of these rate coefficients are accurately fit by the Arrhenius equation, with activation energies equal within experimental uncertainty to the reaction endothermicities. Internal energy dependences have been deduced by combining the present data with previous drift tube and ion beammeasurements. We found that reactant rotational energy and translational energy are equally effective in surmounting the energy barrier to reaction, and that vibrational excitation of the neutral reactant to the v=1 state enhances the rate coefficients by a factor of ∼1000 for the reaction with H2 and by ∼6000 for the reaction with D2 at temperatures of 800 and 500 K, respectively. This vibrational enhancement is larger than the enhancement that would be produced if the same amount of energy were put into translational and/or rotational modes of the reactants. In addition, rate coefficients have been derived for the three-body association reaction of C+(2P) with H2 in a helium buffer over the temperature range 300–600 K.