Time-resolved kinetic studies of the reaction of silylene, SiH2, generated by laser flash photolysis of phenylsilane, have been carried out to obtain rate constants for its bimolecular reaction with O(2). The reaction was studied in the gas phase over the pressure range 1-100 Torr in SF(6) bath gas, at five temperatures in the range 297-600 K. The second order rate constants at 10 Torr were fitted to the Arrhenius equation: [see text] The decrease in rate constant values with increasing temperature, although systematic is very small. The rate constants showed slight increases in value with pressure at each temperature, but this was scarcely beyond experimental uncertainty. From estimates of Lennard-Jones collision rates, this reaction is occurring at ca. 1 in 20 collisions, almost independent of pressure and temperature. Ab initio calculations at the G3 level backed further by multi-configurational (MC) SCF calculations, augmented by second order perturbation theory (MRMP2), support a mechanism in which the initial adduct, H(2)SiOO, formed in the triplet state (T), undergoes intersystem crossing to the more stable singlet state (S) prior to further low energy isomerisation processes leading, via a sequence of steps, ultimately to dissociation products of which the lowest energy pair are H2O+SiO. The decomposition of the intermediate cyclo-siladioxirane, via O-O bond fission, plays an important role in the overall process. The bottleneck for the overall process appears to be the T-->S process in H2SiOO. This process has a small spin-orbit coupling matrix element, consistent with an estimate of its rate constant of 1x10(9) s-1 obtained with the aid of RRKM theory. This interpretation preserves the idea that, as in its reactions in general, SiH2 initially reacts at the encounter rate with O2. The low values for the secondary reaction barriers on the potential energy surface account for the lack of an observed pressure dependence. Some comparisons are drawn with the reactions of CH2+O2 and SiCl2+O2.

Time-resolved kinetic studies of the reaction of silylene, SiH2, generated by laser flash photolysis of phenylsilane, have been carried out to obtain rate constants for its bimolecular reaction with NO. The reaction was studied in the gas phase over the pressure range 1-100 Torr in SF6 bath gas at five temperatures in the range 299-592 K. The second-order rate constants at 10 Torr fitted the Arrhenius equation log(k/cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1)) = (-11.66 +/- 0.01) + (6.20 +/- 0.10 kJ mol(-1))/RT ln 10 The rate constants showed a variation with pressure of a factor of ca. 2 over the available range, almost independent of temperature. The data could not be fitted by RRKM calculations to a simple third body assisted association reaction alone. However, a mechanistic model with an additional (pressure independent) side channel gave a reasonable fit to the data. Ab initio calculations at the G3 level supported a mechanism in which the initial adduct, bent H2SiNO, can ring close to form cyclo-H2SiNO, which is partially collisionally stabilized. In addition, bent H2SiNO can undergo a low barrier isomerization reaction leading, via a sequence of steps, ultimately to dissociation products of which the lowest energy pair are NH2 + SiO. The rate controlling barrier for this latter pathway is only 16 kJ mol(-1) below the energy of SiH2 + NO. This is consistent with the kinetic findings. A particular outcome of this work is that, despite the pressure dependence and the effects of the secondary barrier (in the side reaction), the initial encounter of SiH2 with NO occurs at the collision rate. Thus, silylene can be as reactive with odd electron molecules as with many even electron species. Some comparisons are drawn with the reactions of CH2 + NO and SiCl2 + NO.