Ion-Molecule Charge Transfer Reactions in the Alpha Radiolysis of Various Hydrocarbons in a Mass Spectrometer

The new alpha-particle mass spectrometer proves to be a powerful tool for the study of charge transfer between gaseous ions and molecules. Energetically possible charge-transfer reactions have been differentiated into probable and improbable reactions by employing binary mixtures of hydrocarbon gases in this instrument. The alpha-particle induced charge-transfer reaction, C2H2++C6H6→C2H2+C6H6+, is shown to be very efficient. In contrast, the charge-transfer reaction, C2H2++C2H4→C2H2+C2H4+, is shown to be inefficient. This inefficiency is discussed in terms of the competing chemical reaction, C2H2++C2H4→C3H3+ +CH3.