A gas-phase investigation of oxygen-hydrogen exchange reaction of O( ³P) + C₃H₃ → H(²S) + C ₂H₄O

The gas-phase radical-radical reaction O(³P) + C ₃H₃(ethyl) → H(²S) + C₂H ₄O (acetaldehyde) was investigated by applying a combination of vacuum-ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy in a crossed beam configuration and ab initio calculations. The two radical reactants O(3P) and C2H5 were respectively produced by photolysis of NO2 and supersonic flash pyrolysis of the synthesized precursor azoethane. Doppler profile analysis of the nascent H-atom products in the Lyman-a region revealed that the average translational energy of the products and the average fraction of the total available energy released as translational energy were 5.01 ± 0.72 kcal mol^-1 and 6.1%, respectively. The empirical data combined with CBS-QB3 level ab initio theory and statistical calculations demonstrated that the title exchange reaction is a major channel and proceeds via an addition-elimination mechanism through the formation of a short-lived, dynamical addition complex on the doublet potential energy surface. On the basis of systematic comparison with several exchange reactions of hydrocarbon radicals, the observed small kinetic energy release can be explained in terms of the loose transition state with a product-like geometry and a small reverse activation barrier along the reaction coordinate.