Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.126, No.40, 13071-13078, 2004
Surface-aligned ion-molecule reaction on the surface of a molecular crystal CD3++CD3I -> C2D5++DI
An ion-molecule reaction has been observed from a condensed molecular crystal of CD(3)l using the time-of-flight electron-stimulated desorption ion angular distribution technique. The CD(3)l multilayer is produced by growth on an ordered substrate. The reaction occurs between CD3+ ions produced by electron-stimulated desorption and neighbor CD(3)l molecules in the topmost layer of the molecular crystal of CD(3)l, forming product C2D5+ ions whose desorption dynamics have been measured. The normal momentum of the product ion is close to that of the reactant ion, suggesting that the reaction is dominated by a two-body collision, i.e., the momentum of the reactant CD3+ ion governs the momentum of the product C2D5+ ion. The ion-molecule reaction is of high cross section since the C2D5+ yield is comparable to the CD3+ yield. It is found that the yield and directionality of the emission of the C2D5+ product ion is governed by the molecular order that is characteristic of the molecular crystal of CD(3)l. Destroying or modifying this order by using a spacer layer of H2O diminishes the C2D5+ product ion yield relative to the reactant CD3+ yield and broadens the ion emission directions.