Rotational mode specificity in the Cl + CHD3 → HCl + CD3 reaction

By exciting the rotational modes of vibrationally excited CHD3(v1 = 1, JK), the reactivity for the Cl + CHD3 → HCl + CD3 reaction is observed enhanced by as much as a factor of two relative to the rotationless reactant. To understand the mode specificity, the reaction dynamics was studied using both a reduced-dimensional quantum dynamical model and the conventional quasi-classical trajectory method, both of which reproduced qualitatively the measured enhancements. The mechanism of enhancement was analyzed using a Franck-Condon model and by inspecting trajectories. It is shown that the higher reactivity for higher J states of CHD3 with K = 0 can be attributed to the enlargement of the cone of acceptance. On the other hand, the less pronounced enhancement for the higher J = K states is apparently due to the fact that the rotation along the C-H bond is less effective in opening up the cone of acceptance.