Product magnetic deflection-slotted disk velocity analysis molecular beams kinetics: LiO(X 2Π) and LiO(A 2Σ) from Li+NO2

Product magnetic deflection-slotted disk velocity analysis establishes both LiO(X 2Π) and LiO(A 2Σ) as products of the Li+NO2 bimolecular reaction. Velocity distributions of LiO(X 2Π) reactively scattered from crossed thermal beams of Li and NO2 are reported. Transformation of these data into the center-of-mass coordinate system provides a contour map of the differential reactive cross section which indicates that (a) the reaction mechanism is direct, i.e., the lifetime of the LiNO2 intermediate is less than its rotational period; (b) the LiO(X 2Π) product is preferentially scattered forward, i.e., in the direction defined by the Li velocity; (c) an appreciable fraction of the reaction exothermicity (∼45%) appears as product recoil energy; and (d) distributions in product recoil angle and energy are weakly coupled with forward scattering favoring higher recoil energy.