Muonium Addition Reactions and Kinetic Isotope Effects in the Gas Phase: k∞ Rate Constants for Mu + C2H2.

The kinetics of the addition reaction of muonium (Mu) to acetylene have been studied in the gas phase at N-2 moderator pressures mainly from similar to 800 to 1000 Torr and over the temperature range from 168 to 446 K, but also down to 200 Torr at 168 K and over a much higher range of pressures, from 10 to 44 bar at 295 K, demonstrating pressure-independent rate constants, k(Mu)(T). Even at 200 Torr moderator pressure, the kinetics for Mu + C2H2 addition behave as if effectively in the high-pressure limit, giving k infinity = k(Mu) due to depolarization of the muon spin in the MuC(2)H(2) radical formed in the addition step. The rate constants k(Mu)(T) exhibit modest Arrhenius curvature over the range of measured temperatures. Comparisons with data and with calculations for the corresponding H(D) + C2H2 addition reactions reveal a much faster rate for the Mu reaction at the lowest temperatures, by 2 orders of magnitude, in accord with the propensity of Mu to undergo quantum tunneling. Moreover, isotopic atom exchange, which contributes in a major way to the analogous D atom reaction, forming C2HD + H, is expected to be unimportant in the case of Mu addition, a consequence of the much higher zero-point energy and hence weaker C-Mu bond that would form, meaning that the present report of the Mu + C2H2 reaction is effectively the only experimental study of kinetic isotope effects in the high-pressure limit for H-atom addition to acetylene.