Ricerc@Sapienza

A combined experimental−theoretical study is performed to advance our understanding of the dynamics of the prototypical tetra-atom, complex-forming reaction OH + CO → H + CO 2, which is also of great practical relevance in combustion, Earth’s atmosphere, and, potentially, Mars’s atmosphere and interstellar chemistry. New crossed molecular beam experiments with mass spectrometric detection are analyzed together with the results from previous experiments and compared with quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) calculations on a new, fulldimensional potential energy surface (PES).

Detailed understanding of the mechanism of the combustion relevant multichannel reactions of O( 3 P) with unsaturated hydrocarbons (UHs) requires the identification of all primary reaction products, the determination of their branching ratios and assessment of intersystem crossing (ISC) between triplet and singlet potential energy surfaces (PESs).