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Chemistry of HCNH+: mechanisms, structures, and relevance to Titan’s atmosphere

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Abstract

The chemistry of HCNH+ in Titan’s atmosphere is not completely understood despite previous experimental and theoretical studies. In response to recent suggestions in the literature, we have searched for specific products of the reactions of HCNH+ with H2, CH4, C2H2, and C2H4 using the flowing afterglow-selected ion flow tube technique. We have probed for an association mechanism for reaction with H2, and associative-H2 loss for the reactions involving CH4, C2H2, and C2H4. In all cases, these reaction mechanisms were found to be inefficient pathways for the depletion of HCNH+. Our ab initio computational studies characterize the structures and energies for these mechanisms and indicate that the proposed pathways are endothermic or possess reaction barriers. We compare our studies to previous experimental and computational work, and we suggest other ion-neutral reactions with HCNH+ that have not been included in previous models of Titan’s ionosphere.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Veronique Vuitton for bringing this issue to our attention and for suggesting this study, and Ditte Thomsen for her support with the computational studies. We gratefully acknowledge support of this study by NASA (NNX10AC78G) and NSF (CHE-1012321).

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Author notes

  1. Zhibo Yang

    Present address: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, 101 Stephenson Parkway, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, 215 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0215, USA

    Nicholas J. Demarais, Zhibo Yang & Veronica M. Bierbaum

  2. Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, 391 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0391, USA

    Theodore P. Snow

  3. Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, 389 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0389, USA

    Theodore P. Snow & Veronica M. Bierbaum

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  1. Nicholas J. Demarais
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  2. Zhibo Yang
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  4. Veronica M. Bierbaum
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Correspondence to Nicholas J. Demarais.

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Special Issue honoring Prof. Maria Victoria Roux

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Demarais, N.J., Yang, Z., Snow, T.P. et al. Chemistry of HCNH+: mechanisms, structures, and relevance to Titan’s atmosphere. Struct Chem 24, 1957–1963 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11224-013-0275-4

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