Deuterium isotope effect on the atomic orbital alignment dependence in the reaction of the oriented Ar (3P2) with CH3CN (CD3CN)

Atomic orbital alignment effect was observed for the CN (B2Sigma+) formation in the reaction of oriented Ar (3P2) with CH3CN (CD3CN). The relative cross-sections for each magnetic MJ' substrate in collision frame sigmaH|MJ'| for CH3CN and sigmaD|MJ'| for CD3CN, were determined to be sigmaH0:sigmaH|1|:sigmaH|2|:sigmaD0:sigmaD|1|:sigmaD|2| = 1.00:0.81:0.84:2.01:1.92:1.87. A significant atomic orbital alignment effect was observed. In addition, a notable deuterium isotope effect was observed on both the cross-section and the atomic orbital alignment effect.