State-to-State Dynamics for O(¹D)+D₂→OD+D: Evidence for a Collinear Abstraction Mechanism

The O(¹D)+D₂→OD+D reaction at two different collisional energies, 2.0 and 3.2 kcal/mol, is investigated by using the H(D) Rydberg “tagging” time-of-flight technique. Experimental results in this study indicate that the OD product is clearly more backward scattered relative to the O(¹D) beam direction at the collisional energy of 3.2 kcal/mol. The extra backward scattered OD products are mostly in the highly vibrationally excited states (υ = 4,5,6), which is typical of a collinear abstraction mechanism. The experimental results in this work also provide a good testing bed for quantitative theoretical investigations of this benchmark system.