THE REACTION OF ACTIVE NITROGEN WITH MIXTURES OF ETHYLENE AND NITRIC OXIDE

Abstract

The reaction of active nitrogen, produced in a condensed discharge at 1 mm pressure, with mixtures of ethylene and nitric oxide has been studied with mixtures ranging in composition from pure ethylene to pure nitric oxide. The sum of HCN + 14N16N produced from mixtures of C2H4 and 15NO remained constant and equal to the HCN produced from pure C2H4 for NO concentrations up to 50 mole %. As more NO was added, this sum rose towards the value of 14N15N produced from pure 15NO. These data appear to lend support to the HCN yield from ethylene as the true measure of nitrogen atom concentration. It is suggested that 15NO also undergoes a concerted reaction with excited 14N14N molecules, probably in the A3 Σu+ state, to produce 14N15N, and that these excited molecules can be quenched by collision with ethylene or methane without consuming nitrogen or forming HCN.