THE REACTION OF ACTIVE NITROGEN WITH MIXTURES OF ETHYLENE AND NITRIC OXIDE

Abstract

The reaction of active nitrogen, produced in a condensed discharge at 1 mm pressure, with mixtures of ethylene and nitric oxide has been studied with mixtures ranging in composition from pure ethylene to pure nitric oxide. The sum of HCN + ¹⁴N¹⁶N produced from mixtures of C₂H₄ and ¹⁵NO remained constant and equal to the HCN produced from pure C₂H₄ for NO concentrations up to 50 mole %. As more NO was added, this sum rose towards the value of ¹⁴N¹⁵N produced from pure ¹⁵NO. These data appear to lend support to the HCN yield from ethylene as the true measure of nitrogen atom concentration. It is suggested that ¹⁵NO also undergoes a concerted reaction with excited ¹⁴N¹⁴N molecules, probably in the A³ Σ_u⁺ state, to produce ¹⁴N¹⁵N, and that these excited molecules can be quenched by collision with ethylene or methane without consuming nitrogen or forming HCN.