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The "atoms in molecules" structures of 225 unsubstituted hydrocarbons are derived from both the optimized and the promolecule electron densities. A comparative analysis demonstrates that the molecular graphs derived from these two types of electron densities at the same geometry are equivalent for almost 90 % of the hydrocarbons containing the same number and types of critical points. For the remaining 10 % of molecules, it is demonstrated that by inducing small perturbations, through the variation of the used basis set or slight changes in the used geometry, the emerging molecular graphs from both densities are also equivalent. Interestingly, the (3, -1) critical point between two "non-bonded" hydrogen atoms, which triggered "H-H bonding" controversy is also observed in the promolecule densities of certain hydrocarbons. Evidently, the topology of the electron density is not dictated by chemical bonds or strong interactions and deformations induced by the interactions of atoms in molecules have a quite marginal role, virtually null, in shaping the general traits of the topology of molecular electron densities of the studied hydrocarbons, whereas the key factor is the underlying atomic densities.

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) was used to measure the vibrational–rotational Q-branch structure of the ν1 symmetric stretch of methyl radicals produced by 266 nm laser photolysis of methyl iodide. Spectra were recorded in both flow cells and free jet expansions at instrumental resolutions ranging from 0.25 to 0.005 cm−1. Due to the high recoil velocity of the CH3 fragment, Doppler and collisional broadening of the transitions is appreciable. Even at the highest resolution such broadening of the transitions leads to interference effects among the closely spaced Raman transitions that influence both the line positions and intensities in the observed CARS spectra. The molecular parameters (cm−1) obtained from the analysis are ν1=3004.42(4), αB1=0.0851(8), αC1=0.0475(7), DN1−DN0=−0.000 046(8), DNK1−DNK0=0.000 083(20), and, with assumptions, DK1−DK0=−0.000 039. These results and infrared data in the literature yield a CH bond length of 1.08378(5) Å for the (1000) state and, with some assumptions, an equilibrium bond length Re of 1.076 Å for this prototypic case of sp2 bonding.

The rate constants for the reactions of CN radicals with methane, ethane, propane, cyclo-propane, isobutane, and neopentane have been measured over a temperature range from 275 to 455 K. Laser photolysis was used to produce the radicals and time delayed laser induced fluorescence was used to follow the radical concentration as a function of time. The temperature dependence of the observed rate constants could be fitted with a three-parameter Arrhenius plot. The activation energies that were observed were all small and in some cases they were negative. Time resolved ir emission was used to follow the formation of the HCN(0n2) and HCN(0n′1) product emission. The time dependence of the relative emission intensities, as well as computer modeling of the decay curves, suggest that vibrational population inversion occurs for all of the hydrocarbons studied except methane and cyclopropane. These observations are discussed in terms of the current theories for these type of reactions.

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