Translational energy dependence of the reaction cross section for Rb + CH3I → RbI + CH3 from 0.12 to 1.6 eV (c.m.)

Abstract

A crossed molecular beam study of the reaction of Rb with methyl iodide has been carried out over a wide range of translational energy. At each of seven different incident relative velocities, the total product flux and thus the reaction cross section σ_R was determined by integration (over the laboratory spherical polar angles) of the in‐ and out‐of‐plane angular distributions of RbI. Over the available range of Ē (the mean translational energy in the center‐of‐mass system), σ_R is an essentially decreasing function of Ē. This behavior is somewhat similar to the post‐maximum decline of σ_R(Ē) for the analogous K+CH₃I reaction, but whereas σ_R for that reaction exhibited a sharp maximum at Ē≃0.18 eV, any such maximum for the Rb reaction must be presumed to occur below 0.12 eV.