I. Activation energies for the gas phase reactions of hydrogen atom with carbon monoxide and with ethylene. II. Rate constants for the reactions of benzyl cation with triethylphosphine and with triethylarsine in 1,2-dichloroethane

Two H-atom reactions H + CO + H2 → HCO + H2 and H + C2H4 → C2H5* were separately studied from room temperature to about 1000C, and the activation energies for these two reactions were determined in this temperature range. For H + C2H4 system, a small activation energy of 0.2 kcal/mole was obtained in the present narrow temperature range. The low activation energy indicates that the pre-exponential factor has a predominant contribution to the rate constant of this reaction and has about the same magnitude as that of the rate constant. For H + CO system, a fairly large activation energy of more than 7 kcal/mole was speculated in the potential energy surfaces of the system. The activation energy obtained in the present work, however, has a low value of about 2 kcal/mole. This low value reveals the low level of crossing of this reaction in the potential energy surface and thus indicates considerable complexity involved in the surface. Carbonium ions can be formed from chosen solutes in pulse-irradiated 1,2-dichloroethane (RCl) solutions. Upon irradiation, the electrons generated from the ionization of the solvent become localized on chloride ions as a result of their reaction with the neutral solvent molecules. The solvent counterion, RCl+, on the other hand, is free to exchange charge with the solute molecule. By choosing appropriate solutes, carbonium ion can be formed through a dissociative ionization process in the exchange. The benzyl cation was formed from its precursor compound dibenzylmercury and its reactions with two nucleophiles, triethylphosphine and triethylarsine, were separately studied. The formation and decay of benzyl cation were observed at 363 nm, the position of the maximum of its absorption band, and the second-order rate constants for the two reactions were determined at room temperature