REACTION DYNAMICS OF O(D-1)-2, D-2, AND HD - DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR THE ELUSIVE ABSTRACTION PATHWAY AND THE ESTIMATION OF ITS BRANCHING(H)

The dependencies of the integral cross sections for the title reaction s on collision energies were determined from 0.6 kcal/mol to nearly 6 kcal/mol. The result provides, for the first time, direct and unambigu ous experimental evidence for the existence of an abstraction pathway, in addition to the widely accepted inserted one. A reaction barrier o f about 1.8 kcal/mol was found for this elusive abstraction channel. T he branching of these two microscopic pathways was estimated. An intri guing H/D isotope effect was revealed, which called for further studie s. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.