Kinetics of the reaction between vinyl radical and ethylene

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.cplett.2005.04.057

The C₂H₃ + C₂H₄ reaction was studied using the laser photolysis/photoionization mass spectrometry technique at T = 625-950 K and bath gas (helium) densities of (6-12) × 10 ¹⁶ atom cm^-3. Reaction rate constants can be described by the expression k₁ = 10^{-11.69 ± 0.44} exp (-(2830 ± 790) K/T) cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1. C ₄H₆ and C₄H₇ were detected as primary products; thermal stability of C₄H₇ at 950 K indicates that it is a delocalized radical. The experimental results are compared with predictions obtained in master equation modeling based on the potential energy surface of Miller (J. Phys. Chem. A 108 (2004) 2268).