Surface-aligned ion-molecule reaction on the surface of a molecular crystal CD3+ + CD3I --> C2D5+ + DI

An ion-molecule reaction has been observed from a condensed molecular crystal of CD(3)I using the time-of-flight electron-stimulated desorption ion angular distribution technique. The CD(3)I multilayer is produced by growth on an ordered substrate. The reaction occurs between CD(3)(+) ions produced by electron-stimulated desorption and neighbor CD(3)I molecules in the topmost layer of the molecular crystal of CD(3)I, forming product C(2)D(5)(+) ions whose desorption dynamics have been measured. The normal momentum of the product ion is close to that of the reactant ion, suggesting that the reaction is dominated by a two-body collision, i.e., the momentum of the reactant CD(3)(+) ion governs the momentum of the product C(2)D(5)(+) ion. The ion-molecule reaction is of high cross section since the C(2)D(5)(+) yield is comparable to the CD(3)(+) yield. It is found that the yield and directionality of the emission of the C(2)D(5)(+) product ion is governed by the molecular order that is characteristic of the molecular crystal of CD(3)I. Destroying or modifying this order by using a spacer layer of H(2)O diminishes the C(2)D(5)(+) product ion yield relative to the reactant CD(3)(+) yield and broadens the ion emission directions.