The decay of the high mobility cation in cyclohexane

The decay of the high mobility cation of cyclohexane, produced by photoionization of anthracene in SF₆ saturated solutions of cyclohexane, is examined in detail. A Monte Carlo technique is used to simulate the observed d.c.-conductivity signal, on the basis that both high mobility and normal mobility ions are initial products of the photoionization. The proportion which best fits the experimental results is about 80% high mobility ions, and these ions decay with a rate constant of about 2.2×10⁶s^-1. This decay is predominantly due to either reaction with an impurity or some other transformation of high mobility ion which occurs in the pure solvent.The effects of various additives on the decay of the high mobility species have been determined and correlated with thermochemical properties of the species involved. The results give some support to the idea that the c-C₆H⁺₁₃ ion is the high mobility ion and argue against c-C₆H⁺₁₁ being responsible for the high mobility.