193 nm photodissociation of carbonyl cyanide CO(CN)(2) probed by the CN(v,J)fragment

The photodissociation of CO(CN)(2) at 193 nm has been studied by probing th e nascent CN fragments. Two energetically different CN species were identif ied, a rotationally and vibrationally hot one characterized by T-r similar to 2300 K and T-v similar to 3600 K, and a cold one exclusively in v = 0 wi th T-r similar to 410 K. The hot CN together with OCCN stems from the a-cle avage while the cold CN, which accounts for about 18% of all CN fragments, is from the spontaneous secondary decay OCCN --> CN + CO thus confirming th e three-body decay to be a sequential, process. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.