Surprising positive correlation between rotational and vibrational excitation in the H+ CDCl3→HD + CCl3 reaction

The rotational quantum state distributions of the HD product of the H + CDCl3→HD + CCl3 reaction at 1.6 eV collision energy have been measured using coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. We observe HD products in v′=0, 1 and 2 with the fraction of available energy in HD rotation increasing as the energy in HD vibration increases. Despite the presumed pseudo-atomic nature of the CCl3 radical in the reaction, the behavior of this reaction is closer to that of the H + alkane hydrogen atom abstraction reactions than that of the H + HX→H2 + X (XCl, Br, I) reactions.