Kinetics of the Thermal Decomposition of Dimethylmercury. II. Carbon‐13 Isotope Effect

The C13 kinetic isotope effect in the pyrolysis of gaseous dimethylmercury has been studied in the presence and absence of cyclopentane inhibitor from 290–375°C for the inhibited and 290–350°C for the uninhibited reactions. The isotopic fractionation factor (S) is defined as the ratio of rate constants for the decomposition of Hg(C12H3)2 vs C12H3HgC13H3. S shows a strong dependence upon the degree of inhibition of the methyl radical chain, which, in turn, is a function of the ratio of cyclopentane to dimethylmercury. S is also a function of the total pressure.The dependence of S upon the degree of inhibition agrees quantitatively with the predictions of the mechanism proposed in I. The pressure effect on the isotope effect is attributed to the unimolecular nature of the rate determining step (Hg☒C bond rupture) and is consistent with the over‐all kinetics.The isotope rate factor in the fully inhibited high‐pressure limit, α, is 1.034±0.002 (essentially independent of temperature over the range studied), compared to a value of 1.011±0.001 for the uninhibited (chain) decomposition.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71109/2/JCPSA6-30-3-613-1.pd