State-to-state dynamics for O(1D)+D2→OD+D:: Evidence for a collinear abstraction mechanism

The O(D-1) + D-2 --> OD + D reaction at two different collisional energies, 2.0 and 3.2 kcal/mol, is investigated by using the H(D) Rydberg tagging time-of-flight technique. Experimental results in this study indicate that the OD product is clearly more backward scattered relative to the O(D-1) beam direction at the collisional energy of 3.2 kcal/mol. The extra backward scattered OD products are mostly in the highly vibrationally excited states (v = 4, 5, 6), which is typical of a collinear abstraction mechanism. The experimental results in this work also provide a good testings bed for quantitative theoretical investigations of this benchmark system.