Crossed Beams Study on the Dynamics of F Atom Reaction with 1,2-Butadiene

We have investigated the dynamics of the F+C₄H₆ reaction using the universal crossed molecular beam method. The C₄H₅F+H reaction channel was observed in this experiment. Angular resolved time-of-flight spectra have been measured for the C₄H₅F product. Product angular distributions as well as kinetic energy distributions were determined for this product channel. Experimental results show that the C₄H₅F product is largely backward scattered with considerable forward scattering signal, relative to the F atom beam direction. This suggests that the reaction channel mainly proceeds via a long-lived complex formation mechanism, with possible contribution from a direct SN₂ type mechanism.