Crossed molecular beam study of the reaction O(3P)+C2H2

The reaction between ground state atomic oxygen and acetylene was studied using the crossed molecular beam method with an average collision energy of 6 kcal/mol. The two major primary reaction channels are (a) formation of CH2 and CO and (b) formation of HCCO and H. Product angular distributions and time-of-flight spectra were measured and the translational energy release was determined for each channel. The reaction proceeds primarily on the triplet surface through a long-lived intermediate. For both channels the translational energy distributions were found to peak at about 30% of the total available energy, indicating the existence of an exit channel barrier in each case. The branching ratio between channel (a) and (b) was found to be 1.4±0.5.