Kinetic study of the reactions of gas phase Pd(a1S0), Ag(5s 2S1/2), Au(6s 2S1/2), Cd(5s2 1S0), and Hg(6s2 1S0) atoms with nitrous oxide

The reactivity of gas-phase Pd(a(1)S(0)), Ag(5s S-2(1/2)), Au(6s S-2(1/2)), Cd(5s(2) S-1(0)), and Hg(6s(2) S-1(0)) with N2O as a function of temperature and pressure is reported. The transition metal atoms were produced by the photodissociation of an appropriate precursor molecule and detected by laser-induced fluorescence. The reaction of palladium with N2O is pressure dependent indicating adduct formation. The room-temperature limiting low-pressure third-order rate constant is (2.5 +/- 0.8) x 10(-30) molecule(-2) cm(6) s(-1) in argon buffer. The limiting low-pressure third-order rate constant can be expressed as log k(0)(T) = -219.06 + 152(log T) - 30.5(log T)(2) molecule(-2) cm(6) s(-1) over the temperature range 294-523 K. The reactions of ground-state silver, gold, cadmium, and mercury with N2O are very slow, and only upper limits for the rate constants can be reported for these reactions.