Volume 245, 2023

Experimental, theoretical, and astrochemical modelling investigation of the gas-phase reaction between the amidogen radical (NH2) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) at low temperatures

Abstract

The first experimental study of the low-temperature kinetics of the gas-phase reaction of NH2 with acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) has been performed. Experiments were carried out using laser-flash photolysis and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy to create and monitor the temporal decay of NH2 in the presence of CH3CHO. Low temperatures relevant to the interstellar medium were achieved using a pulsed Laval nozzle expansion. Rate coefficients were measured over the temperature and pressure range of 29–107 K and 1.4–28.2 × 1016 molecules per cm3, with the reaction exhibiting a negative temperature dependence and a positive pressure dependence. The yield of CH3CO from the reaction has also been determined at 67.1 and 35.0 K, by observing OH produced from the reaction of CH3CO with added O2. Ab initio calculations of the potential energy surface (PES) were combined with Rice–Rampsberger–Kessel–Marcus (RRKM) calculations to predict rate coefficients and branching ratios over a broad range of temperatures and pressures. The calculated rate coefficients were shown to be sensitive to the calculated density of states of the stationary points, which in turn are sensitive to the inclusion of hindered rotor potentials for several of the vibrational frequencies. The experimentally determined rate coefficients and yields have been used to fit the calculated PES, from which low-pressure limiting rate coefficients relevant to the ISM were determined. These have been included in a single-point dark cloud astrochemical model, in which the reaction is shown to be a potential source of gas-phase CH3CO radicals under dark cloud conditions.

Graphical abstract: Experimental, theoretical, and astrochemical modelling investigation of the gas-phase reaction between the amidogen radical (NH2) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) at low temperatures

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Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 2 2023
Accepted
30 3 2023
First published
03 4 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Faraday Discuss., 2023,245, 261-283

Experimental, theoretical, and astrochemical modelling investigation of the gas-phase reaction between the amidogen radical (NH2) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) at low temperatures

Kevin M. Douglas, L. H. D. Li, C. Walsh, J. H. Lehman, M. A. Blitz and D. E. Heard, Faraday Discuss., 2023, 245, 261 DOI: 10.1039/D3FD00046J

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