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Title: The C(3P) + NH3 reaction in interstellar chemistry. I. Investigation of the product formation channels

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [1]
  1. UMR, CNRS 6251, Univ. de Rennes, Rennes Cedex (France)
  2. West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
  3. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. de Bordeaux, Talence (France); CNRS, Institut des Sciences Moleculaires, Talence (France)
  5. Univ. Bordeaux, Floirac (France); CNRS, LAB, UMR, Floirac (France)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The product formation channels of ground state carbon atoms, C(3P), reacting with ammonia, NH3, have been investigated using two complementary experiments and electronic structure calculations. Reaction products are detected in a gas flow tube experiment (330 K, 4 Torr) using tunable vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization coupled with time of flight mass spectrometry. Temporal profiles of the species formed and photoionization spectra are used to identify primary products of the C + NH3 reaction. In addition, H-atom formation is monitored by VUV laser induced fluorescence (LIF) from room temperature to 50 K in a supersonic gas flow generated by the Laval nozzle technique. Electronic structure calculations are performed to derive intermediates, transition states, and complexes formed along the reaction coordinate. The combination of photoionization and LIF experiments supported by theoretical calculations indicate that in the temperature and pressure range investigated, the H + H2CN production channel represents 100% of the product yield for this reaction. As a result, kinetics measurements of the title reaction down to 50 K and the effect of the new rate constants on interstellar nitrogen hydride abundances using a model of dense interstellar clouds are reported in Paper II.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1329618
Report Number(s):
SAND-2016-10072J; 648108
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 812, Issue 2; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 31 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

A combined theoretical and experimental investigation of the kinetics and dynamics of the O( 1 D) + D 2 reaction at low temperature journal January 2018
Valence shell threshold photoelectron spectroscopy of C 3 H x ( x = 0–3) journal January 2018
A low temperature investigation of the N( 2 D) + CH 4 , C 2 H 6 and C 3 H 8 reactions journal January 2019
Rate constants for the N( 2 D) + C 2 H 2 reaction over the 50–296 K temperature range journal January 2019
CRF-PEPICO: Double velocity map imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy for reaction kinetics studies journal July 2017
Chemical nitrogen fractionation in dense molecular clouds journal December 2018
Condensation of Atomic Carbon: Possible Routes toward Glycine journal January 2020

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