The photodissociation dynamics of the ethyl radical, C2H5, investigated by velocity map imaging

The photodissociation dynamics of the ethyl radical C2H5 has been investigated by velocity map imaging. Ethyl was produced by flash pyrolysis from n-propyl nitrite and excited to the (A) over tilde (2)A' (3s) Rydberg state around 250 nm. The energetically most favorable reaction channel in this wavelength region is dissociation to C2H4 (ethene) + H. The H-atom dissociation products were ionized in a [1+1'] process via the 1s-2p transition. The observed translational energy distribution is bimodal: A contribution of slow H-atoms with an isotropic angular distribution peaks at low translational energies. An expectation value for the fraction of excess energy released into translation of < f(T)> = 0.19 is derived from the data, typical for statistical dissociation reactions. In addition, a fast H-atom channel is observed, peaking around 1.8 eV. The latter shows an anisotropic distribution with beta = 0.45. It originates from a direct dissociation process within less than a rotational period. Time-delay scans with varying extraction voltages indicate the presence of two rates for the formation of H-atoms. One rate with a sub-nanosecond time constant is associated with H-atoms with large translational energy; a second one with a time constant on the order of 100 ns is associated with H-atoms formed with low translational energy. The data confirm and extend those from previous experiments and remove some inconsistencies. Possible mechanisms for the dissociation are discussed in light of the new results as well as previous ones. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4731285]