Shock wave and modelling study of the unimolecular dissociation of Si(CH3)2F2: an access to spectroscopic and kinetic properties of SiF2

Abstract

The thermal dissociation of Si(CH₃)₂F₂ was studied in shock waves between 1400 and 1900 K. UV absorption-time profiles of its dissociation products SiF₂ and CH₃ were monitored. The reaction proceeds as a unimolecular process not far from the high-pressure limit. Comparing modelled and experimental results, an asymmetric representation of the falloff curves was shown to be most realistic. Modelled limiting high-pressure rate constants agreed well with the experimental data. The UV absorption spectrum of SiF₂ was shown to be quasi-continuous, with a maximum near 222 nm and a wavelength-integrated absorption cross section of 4.3 (±1) × 10⁻²³ cm³ (between 195 and 255 nm, base e), the latter being consistent with radiative lifetimes from the literature. Experiments over the range 1900–3200 K showed that SiF₂ was not consumed by a simple bond fission SiF₂ →SiF + F, but by a bimolecular reaction SiF₂ + SiF₂ → SiF + SiF₃ (rate constant in the range 10¹¹–10¹² cm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹), followed by the unimolecular dissociation SiF₃ → SiF₂ + F such that the reaction becomes catalyzed by the reactant SiF₂. The analogy to a pathway CF₂ + CF₂ → CF + CF₃, followed by CF₃ → CF₂ + F, in high-temperature fluorocarbon chemistry is stressed. Besides the high-temperature absorption cross sections of SiF₂, analogous data for SiF are also reported.