Quasiclassical trajectory study of the collision-induced dissociation of CH3SH++Ar

Quasiclassical trajectory calculations were carried out to study the dynamics of energy transfer and collision-induced dissociation (CID) of CH3SH++Ar at collision energies ranging from 4.34 to 34.7 eV. The relative abundances calculated for the most relevant product ions are found to be in good agreement with experiment, except for the lowest energies investigated. In general, the dissociation to form CH3++SH is the dominant channel, even though it is not among the energetically favored reaction pathways. The results corroborate that this selective dissociation observed upon collisional activation arises from a more efficient translational to vibrational energy transfer for the low-frequency C-S stretching mode than for the high-frequency C-H stretching modes, together with weak couplings between the low- and high-frequency modes of vibration. The calculations suggest that CID takes place preferentially by a direct CH3++SH detachment, and more efficiently when the Ar atom collides with the methyl group-side of CH3SH+. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.