Mass spectrometric study of the reaction of hydrogen atoms with ethane

Abstract

The reaction of hydrogen atoms with ethane has been studied over the temperature range 357–544 K at a constant pressure of 4 Torr using a flow discharge system linked to a quadrupole mass spectrometer.

Experiments involved both use of excess hydrogen atoms and of ethane and the results yield Arrhenius parameters for the process H + C₂H₆→ C₂H₅+ H₂(1) and the stoichiometry of the overall reaction as a function of temperature. We find, k₁/cm³ mol^–1 s^–1= 10^{14.03 ± 0.27} exp(–38.6 ± 2.6 kJ mol^–1/RT) in excellent agreement with a previous study conducted in this laboratory. The findings confirm that the Arrhenius plot for reaction (1) is linear over a range of 1000 K.