HIROSHI FURUE and PHILIP D. PACEY. Can. J. Chem. 60,916 (1982). The isomerization of cyclopropane has been studied in a flow reactor at 897 K and from 4 to 406 Tom. The pressure dependence of the rate constants from this work and from the literature have been compared with predictions obtained from two models based on the theory of Yau and Pritchard and from three RRKM models. The collisional deactivation efficiency was found to generally decline with increasing temperature. The average energy removed per collision was calculated by the method of Tardy and Rabinovitch and was found to have values from 15 to 23 kJ mol-I at 897 K. Combining the results of this work with data from the literature from 690 to 1038 K, the limiting high pressure rate constants follow the relation log k , = 15.50 k 0.14 -(276.0 k 2.1 kJ mol-')/2.3RT.
HIROSHI FURUE
Introductionselves, reliable, limiting high pressure values, k,, The isomerization of cyclopropane has played an based on extrapolation of data from a number of important part in the study of unimolecular reac-Pressures, have been obtained between 718 K and tions. Because it is a reasonably clean reaction 773K 2, 59 7). There have been six recent system, it was the subject of early, successful studies of the pressure dependence of the rate at experimental investigations (l,2). In turn, because higher temperatures (17-221, but the pressure of the availability of the experimental data, it was ranges were narrow and the authors did not extrapone of the first reactions used to test RRKM theory olate their data to determine k,. In the studies of (3, 4). It has now been the subject of at least 20 the collision efficiency at high temperatures (16, 18, experimental studies (1, 2, 5-22) and at least three 20, 221, km was calculated starting with the above RRKM models (3,4, 23).Arrhenius parameters determined at lower temperDespite this impressive body of work, some atures. Even these relatively precise Arrhenius questions remain. RRKM models which were de-Parameters can lead to an uncertainty in k, at veloped to reproduce the fall-off of the rate con-1mOK of50%-stant at low pressures at one temperature haveThe Purpose of the Present work is to study the been found to be unsuccessful at other tempera-reaction at high Pressures and high temperatures tures (4). It has been suggested (16,17) that this is using a flow system. Such a system can provide caused by a decline in P, the efficiency of collisions activation energies (24) and reaction orders (251, in removing excess vibrational energy, as the d 1n kld In P , with a precision of 2 or 3%. This temperature increases. The evidence for this is precision is not better than that of the activation strong for collisions of cyclopropane with small energy quoted above, soexperiments were restrict-