Kinetic Study of the Gas-Phase O(1D) + CH3OH and O(1D) + CH3CN Reactions: Low-Temperature Rate Constants and Atomic Hydrogen Product Yields

Effect of temperature on the gas-phase reaction of CH3CN with OH radicals: experimental (T = 11.7-177.5 K) and computational (T = 10-400 K) kinetic study

Acetonitrile (CH3CN) is present in the interstellar medium (ISM) in a variety of environments. However, at the ultracold temperatures of the ISM, radical-molecule reactions are not widely investigated because of the experimental handicap of getting organic molecules in the gas phase by conventional techniques. The CRESU (French acronym for Reaction Kinetics in a Uniform Supersonic Flow) technique solves this problem. For this reason, we present in this work the kinetic study of the gas-phase reaction of CH3CN with one of the most ubiquitous radicals, the hydroxyl (OH) radical, as a function of temperature (11.7-177.5 K). The kinetic technique employed to investigate the CH3CN + OH reaction was the pulsed laser photolysis-laser induced fluorescence. The rate coefficient for this reaction k(T) has been observed to drastically increase from 177.5 K to 107.0 K (about 2 orders of magnitude), while the increase in k(T) from 107.0 K to 11.7 K was milder (around 4 times). The temperature dependent expressions for k(T) are provided in the two distinct T-ranges, excluding the upper limit obtained for k(177.5 K): In addition, the rate coefficients estimated by the canonical competitive unified statistical (CCUS) theory show a similar behaviour to the experimental results, when evaluated within the high-pressure limit. This is consistent with the experimentally observed independence of k(T) with total gas density at selected temperatures. Astrochemical networks, such as the KIDA database or UMIST, do not include the CH3CN + OH reaction as a potential depletion process for acetonitrile in the ISM because the current studies predict very low rate coefficients at IS temperatures. According to the model (T = 10 K), the impact of the titled reaction on the abundances of CH3CN appears to be negligible in dark molecular clouds of the ISM (∼1% of the total depletion reactions included in UMIST network). With respect to the potential formation of the CH2CN radical in those environments, even in the most favourable scenario, where this radical could be formed in a 100% yield from the CH3CN + OH reaction, this route would only contribute around 2% to the current assumed formation routes by the UMIST network.

An experimental and theoretical investigation of the N(2D) + C6H6 (benzene) reaction with implications for the photochemical models of Titan

We report on a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the N(2D) + C6H6 (benzene) reaction, which is of relevance in the aromatic chemistry of the atmosphere of Titan. Experimentally, the reaction was studied (i) under single-collision conditions by the crossed molecular beams (CMB) scattering method with mass spectrometric detection and time-of-flight analysis at the collision energy (Ec) of 31.8 kJ mol-1 to determine the primary products, their branching fractions (BFs), and the reaction micromechanism, and (ii) in a continuous supersonic flow reactor to determine the rate constant as a function of temperature from 50 K to 296 K. Theoretically, electronic structure calculations of the doublet C6H6N potential energy surface (PES) were performed to assist the interpretation of the experimental results and characterize the overall reaction mechanism. The reaction is found to proceed via barrierless addition of N(2D) to the aromatic ring of C6H6, followed by formation of several cyclic (five-, six-, and seven-membered ring) and linear isomeric C6H6N intermediates that can undergo unimolecular decomposition to bimolecular products. Statistical estimates of product BFs on the theoretical PES were carried out under the conditions of the CMB experiments and at the temperatures relevant for Titan's atmosphere. In all conditions the ring-contraction channel leading to C5H5 (cyclopentadienyl) + HCN is dominant, while minor contributions come from the channels leading to o-C6H5N (o-N-cycloheptatriene radical) + H, C4H4N (pyrrolyl) + C2H2 (acetylene), C5H5CN (cyano-cyclopentadiene) + H, and p-C6H5N + H. Rate constants (which are close to the gas kinetic limit at all temperatures, with the recommended value of 2.19 ± 0.30 × 10-10 cm3 s-1 over the 50-296 K range) and BFs have been used in a photochemical model of Titan's atmosphere to simulate the effect of the title reaction on the species abundances as a function of the altitude.

The atmospheric relevance of primary alcohols and imidogen reactions

Organic alcohols as very volatile compounds play a crucial role in the air quality of the atmosphere. So, the removal processes of such compounds are an important atmospheric challenge. The main goal of this research is to discover the atmospheric relevance of degradation paths of linear alcohols by imidogen with the aid of simulation by quantum mechanical (QM) methods. To this end, we combine broad mechanistic and kinetic results to get more accurate information and to have a deeper insight into the behavior of the designed reactions. Thus, the main and necessary reaction pathways are explored by well-behaved QM methods for complete elucidation of the studying gaseous reactions. Moreover, the potential energy surfaces as  a main factor are computed for easier judging of the most probable pathways in the simulated reactions. Our attempt to find the occurrence of the considered reactions in the atmospheric conditions is completed by precisely evaluating the rate constants of all elementary reactions. All of the computed bimolecular rate constants have a positive dependency on both temperature and pressure. The kinetic results show that H-abstraction from the α carbon is dominant relative to the other sites. Finally, by the results of this study, we conclude that at moderate temperatures and pressures primary alcohols can degrade with imidogen, so they can get atmospheric relevance.