Fangtong Zhang, R. Kaiser, V. Kislov
Jul 1, 2011
Citations
0
Influential Citations
77
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Abstract
The aromatic indene molecule (C9H8) together with its acyclic isomers (phenylallene, 1-phenyl-1-propyne, and 3-phenyl-1-propyne) were formed via a “directed synthesis” in situ utilizing a high-temperature chemical reactor under combustion-like conditions (300 Torr, 1200–1500 K) through the reactions of the phenyl radical (C6H5) with propyne (CH3CCH) and allene (H2CCCH2). The isomer distributions were probed utilizing tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation from the Advanced Light Source by recording the photoionization efficiency (PIE) curves at mass-to-charge of m/z = 116 (C9H8+) of the products in a supersonic expansion for both the phenyl-allene and phenyl-propyne systems; branching ratios were derived by fitting the recorded PIE curves with a linear combination of the PIE curves of the individual C9H8 isomers. Our data suggest that under our experimental conditions, the formation of the aromatic indene molecule via the reaction of the phenyl radical with allene is facile and enhanced compared to th...