The reaction of hot hydrogen atoms with carboxylic acids

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1960 · Journal of Physical Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/j100835a021· OSTI ID:4149605

Elatrash, Ali M.; Johnsen, Russell H.; Wolfgang, Richard

The reaction of tritium atoms with a number of liquid carboxylic acids was studied. Recoil tritium from the nuclear reaction Li⁶(n, alpha )H³ was used as the source. Labeled hydrogen (HT), tritium labeled parent acid, CH₃T and other labeled degradation products which may be formed by the replacement of an atom or group by a tritium atom account for nearly the entire yield. These products are, with the exception of HT, insensitive to the presence of I₂ as a radical scavenger. This suggests that the primary reaction of hot atoms in the gas phase--a high-energy fast displacement mechanism-is also operative in the liquid phase. The distribution of products reveals that a hot displacement reaction may take place at any type of bond and that its probability is proportional to the number of bonds of that type. Several trends among these competitive modes of displacement attack emerge clearly: e.g., attack on C-H is more likely than on C-C; attack on C-H yields more HT than labeled acid, especially with secondary C-H bonds; etc. The stability of a labeled species toward dissociation due to excitation introduced by the displacement reaction has a detectable effect on the yield pattern. Companison with data on tritium reactions with gaseous hydrocarbons suggests that the same simple mechanistic model of the hot displacement process is applicable to both phases.

• Research Organization: Florida State Univ., Tallahassee
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• NSA Number: NSA-14-018989
• OSTI ID: 4149605
• Journal Information: Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 64; ISSN 0022-3654
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
ATOMS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONFIGURATION
DECOMPOSITION
DECONTAMINATION
HYDROGEN
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LIQUIDS
LITHIUM 6
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
ORGANIC ACIDS
RADIOACTIVITY
REACTION KINETICS
RECOILS
STABILITY
TRITIUM