An experimental and quasiclassical study of the product state resolved stereodynamics of the reaction O(1D2) + H2(υ = 0) → OH (X2Π32; υ = 0, N, f) + H

The product state resolved dynamics of the photon initiated reaction N2O+hν(193 nm) → O(1D2)+N2, O(1D2)+H2(υ = 0) → OH(X2Π32; υ = 0, N = 5, f) + H, conducted at 300 K and at a mean collision energy of 10 kJ mol−1, have been studied experimentally and computationally. Product state-resolved differential cross-sections of the scattered OH fragments have been probed through analysis of their polarised, Doppler resolved laser induced fluoresence spectra and compared with the predictions of quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) computations conducted on the Schinke-Lester ab initio ground state surface (SL1). The experiments confirm the QCT prediction of strongly peaked backward scattering in the channels generating OH(υ = 0, N = 5). The two individually probed Λ-doublet components display identical angular distributions. Although most collision complexes are estimated to have lifetimes less than their mean rotational periods, the total differential cross-section, summed over all product channels, is predicted to display forward and backward peaks with a moderate bias in favour of backward scattering.