On the Emission Spectra of the Unimolecular Reaction of Methylamine by Electron Impact

The emission spectra of the following excited species produced from methylamine by electron impact (the energy of 150 eV) at a low pressure were observed: NH(A3Π–X3Σ), CN(B2Σ–X2Σ), CH(A2Δ–X2Π), and H(Balmer series). It was confirmed that the excited species are produced by a unimolecular reaction of methylamine. The replacement by deuterium decreases the production of the excited hydrogen atom from methylamine by about 40%, this supports the idea that the excited hydrogen atom is produced through a superexcited state of methylamine. It was also determined that the production of the excited hydrogen atom of the methyl group was less than that of the amino group by about 20%. This is in contrast to the findings on the mass spectrum of CD3NH2, where the peak of CD2NH2+ was much higher than that of CD3NH+. The NH radical in the A3Π state was produced from methylamine and dimethylamine, while the NH radicals in the A3Π and the c1Π states were produced from ammonia.