Kinetics of the reaction between vinyl radical and ethylene

The C2H3 + C2H4 reaction was studied using the laser photolysis/photoionization mass spectrometry technique at T = 625–950 K and bath gas (helium) densities of (6–12) × 1016 atom cm−3. Reaction rate constants can be described by the expression k1 = 10−11.69 ± 0.44 exp (−(2830 ± 790) K/T) cm3 molecule−1 s−1. C4H6 and C4H7 were detected as primary products; thermal stability of C4H7 at 950 K indicates that it is a delocalized radical. The experimental results are compared with predictions obtained in master equation modeling based on the potential energy surface of Miller (J. Phys. Chem. A 108 (2004) 2268).