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Paul Houston

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Hydrogen Atom Transfer Reactions

H atom abstraction by fluorine atoms is a reaction important in chemical lasers and for comparison to high-level theory. We studied this process as a function of temperature for several important reactions during the 1970s. Our paper concerning the activation energy for the F + H2 reaction is still quoted, and the non-Arrhenius tempertature dependence of other F + HX reactions may have importance to the current understanding of non-adiabatic effects.

The figure above shows the temperature dependence of the F + HCl rate constant.
  • E. Wurzberg, A. J. Grimley, and P. L. Houston, "Hydrogen Abstraction by Fluorine Atoms: F + HX and F + DX (X=I, Br, Cl)," Chem. Phys. Lett. 57, 373-378 (1978).

  • P. L. Houston, "Laser Studies of Atom-Molecule Reactions," Proc. Soc. Photo- opt. Instr. Eng. 158, 23-28 (1978).

  • P. L. Houston, "Initiation of Atom-Molecule Reactions by Infrared Multiphoton Dissociation," in Photoselective Chemistry, Part 1, J. Jortner, Ed., 625-638 (1981).

  • E. Wurzberg and P. L. Houston, "The Temperature Dependence of Absolute Rate Constants for the F + H2 and F + D2 Reactions," J. Chem. Phys. 72, 4811-4814 (1980).

  • E. Wurzberg and P. L. Houston, "The Temperature Dependence of Hydrogen Abstraction Reactions: F + HCl, F + HBr, F + DBr, and F + HI," J. Chem. Phys. 72, 5915-5923 (1980).

This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research



and by the Standard Oil Company of Ohio.


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Paul L. Houston plh2@cornell.edu
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