Crossed Beams Study of C-H Bond Activation:

Mo(5S2) + CH4 MoCH2 + H2

 

Peter A. Willis, Hans U. Stauffer, Ryan Z. Hinrichs and H. Floyd Davis*

Department of Chemistry

Baker Laboratory

Cornell University

Ithaca NY 14853-1301

 

The reaction of metastable Mo(5S2 s1d5) with methane was studied using the method of crossed molecular beams. Angular and velocity distributions of the MoCH2 products were obtained at relative collision energies of 7.2 and 13.0 kcal/mole. The center-of-mass MoCH2 angular distributions exhibited forward-backward symmetry, consistent with a mechanism involving C-H bond insertion forming HMoCH3 followed by H2 elimination. The potential energy barrier for insertion of Mo(5S2 s1d5) into CH4 is less than or equal to 7.2 kcal/mole.

 

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail:hfd1@cornell.edu

Submitted as a communication to J. Chem. Phys., October 1997