Effect of Pressure in the Radiolysis and Photolysis of Methane

The photolysis and radiolysis of equimolar CH4–CD4 mixtures were investigated as a function of pressure. The fact that, in the presence of NO, the ethane fraction consists entirely of C2D6, C2D4H2, C2H4D2, and C2H6 in comparable amounts indicates that CH2 and CD2 are produced. The relative yield of these ethanes which are formed by insertion of methylene into methane increases with pressure in both the photolysis and radiolysis. In the radiolysis, the G value reaches a value of 0.35±0.1 at pressures above 15 atm. Information about the effect of pressure on the production of the ethyl ion was obtained by investigating the radiolysis of CH4–C4D10 and CD4—C3H8 mixtures from 1.5 cm to 130 atm. The data indicate that there is a gradual decrease of the ethyl ion yield with increase in pressure while the parent ion yield increases with increase in pressure to a pressure of at least 15 atm.