Reactions of Acetonitrile in a Radiofrequency Discharge

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00347a020

Acetonitrile was flowed through an inductively coupled radiofrequency (rf) discharge.The products formed under various conditions of power and flow rate were isolated and quantitated by using gas chromatography.The major products were propionitrile, ethane, and hydrogen cyanide.Reaction of mixtures of acetonitrile and cyclohexane gave these three products and cyanocyclohexylmethane, methylcyclohexane, and cyclohexene.All six products can be rationalized by neutral radical reactions.Emission spectroscopy on acetonitrile plasmas showed the expected CN bands from the excited A²? and B²Σ⁺ states.Analysis of the peak intensities gave a vibrational temperature of ca. 5900K and a rotational temperature of ca. 735K for B²Σ⁺ state.Lower power, higher pressure, or added ethane diminished the emission intensity but did not change these temperatures.Added argon had no effect up to a mole fraction of argon of 0.8.The absence of cyanoalkanes from plasmas containing CN and alkyl radicals is noted.