Issue 14, 2022

Bimolecular reactions of S2+ with Ar, H2 and N2: reactivity and dynamics

Abstract

The reactivity, energetics and dynamics of bimolecular reactions between S2+ and three neutral species (Ar, H2 and N2) have been studied using a position-sensitive coincidence methodology at centre-of-mass collision energies below 6 eV. This is the first study of bimolecular reactions involving S2+, a species detected in planetary ionospheres, the interstellar medium, and in anthropogenic manufacturing processes. The reactant dication beam employed consists predominantly of S2+ in the ground 3P state, but some excited states are also present. Most of the observed reactions involve the ground state of S2+, but the dissociative electron transfer reactions appear to exclusively involve excited states of this atomic dication. We observe exclusively single electron-transfer between S2+ and Ar, a process which exhibits strong forward scatting typical of the Landau–Zener style dynamics observed for other dicationic electron transfer reactions. Following collisions between S2+ + H2, non-dissociative and dissociative single electron-transfer reactions were detected. The dynamics here show evidence for the formation of a long-lived collision complex, [SH2]2+, in the dissociative single electron-transfer channel. The formation of SH+ was not observed. In contrast, the collisions of S2+ + N2 result in the formation of SN+ + N+ in addition to the products of single electron-transfer reactions.

Graphical abstract: Bimolecular reactions of S2+ with Ar, H2 and N2: reactivity and dynamics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 nov 2021
Accepted
17 mar 2022
First published
22 mar 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022,24, 8113-8128

Bimolecular reactions of S2+ with Ar, H2 and N2: reactivity and dynamics

S. Armenta Butt and S. D. Price, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 8113 DOI: 10.1039/D1CP05397C

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