FORMATION OF HCN AND ACETYLENE OLIGOMERS BY PHOTOLYSIS OF AMMONIA IN THE PRESENCE OF ACETYLENE: APPLICATIONS TO THE ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY OF JUPITER.

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00221a033

HCN is formed by the photolysis of ammonia in the presence of acetylene at room temperature. There is a 70% decrease in the yield of HCN when the temperature is lowered to 178 K and two new reaction products, acetonitrile and acetaldehyde ethylidenehydrazone (6), are formed. Photolysis of 6 yields acetonitrile, and the hydrogen atom initiated decomposition of acetonitrile yields HCN. Aziridine, a predicted reaction intermediate, was not detected at 298 or 178 K. Oligomers of acetylene are also formed. Oligomers formed by the photolysis of ammonia in the presence of acetylene were shown by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to contain NH groupings and to differ from those produced by the direct photolysis of acetylene. The possible role of these photochemical processes on the formation of HCN and chromophores on Jupiter, Titan, and comets is discussed.