Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.113, No.52, 15233-15239, 2009
Vibrational-Rotational Energy Distributions in the Reaction O- + D-2 -> OD + D-
The D+ transfer reaction between O- (P-2) and D-2 to form OD and D- was studied using the crossed molecular beam technique at collision energies of 1.55 and 1.95 eV. The reaction appears to proceed by a direct mechanism through large impact parameters. At both collision energies, more that 70% of the excess energy is partitioned into product translation. At the lower collision energy, the OD products are formed in the ground vibrational state with a bimodal rotational energy distribution. At the higher collision energy, both nu' = 0 and 1 products are formed; ground vibrational state products have a mean rotational energy of 0.05 eV, corresponding to J' approximate to 6. In contrast, OD products formed in nu' = I are formed with significant rotational excitation, with the most probable J' approximate to 15. The birnodal rotational distribution is rationalized in terms of trajectories that sample two potential Surfaces Coupled by a conical intersection in the vicinity of the [O center dot center dot center dot DD](-) intermediate that Correlate to (OD-,D) or (OD,D-) products.