Kinetics of methylene addition to cis- and trans-but-2-ene. Further evidence for the energy separation between triplet and singlet methylene

Abstract

The reactions of triplet and singlet methylene with cis- and trans-but-2-ene have been studied over the temperature range 350–473 K. The results yield a value of (36.5 ± 3.2) kJ mol^–1 for the energy separation between singlet and triplet methylene, and provide further confirmation of the assumption that singlet methylene reactions with hydrocarbons proceed with activation energies close to zero. Previous evidence for the similar reactivities of triplet methylene and the methyl radical receives additional support.