Two sets of experiments were performed to unravel the high-temperature pyrolysis of tricyclo[5.2.1.0 2,6 ] decane (JP-10) exploiting high-temperature reactors over a temperature range of 1100 K to 1600 K Advanced Light Source (ALS) and 927 K to 1083 K National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL)with residence times of a few tens of microseconds (ALS) to typically 144 ms (NSRL). The products were identified in situ in supersonic molecular beams via single photon vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization coupled with mass spectroscopic detection in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ReTOF). These studies were designed to probe the initial (ALS) and also higher order reaction products (NSRL) formed in the decomposition of JP-10 -including radicals and thermally labile closed-shell species. Altogether 43 products were detected and quantified including C1-C4 alkenes, dienes, C3-C4 cumulenes, alkynes, eneynes, diynes, cycloalkenes, cyclo-dienes, aromatic molecules, and most important, radicals such as ethyl, allyl, and methyl produced at lower residence times. At longer residence times, the predominant fragments are molecular hydrogen (H2), ethylene (C2H4), propene (C3H6), cyclopentadiene (C5H6), cyclopentene (C5H8), fulvene (C6H6), and benzene (C6H6).Accompanied by electronic structure calculations, the initial JP-10 decomposition via C-H bond cleavages resulting in the formation of initially six C10H15 radicals were found to explain the formation of all products detected in both sets of experiments. These radicals are not stable under the experiment conditions and further decompose via C-C bond -scission processes. These pathways result in ring opening in the initial tricyclic carbon skeletons of JP-10. Intermediates accessed after the first -scission can further isomerize or dissociate. Complex PAH products in the NRLS experiment (naphthalene, acenaphthylene, biphenyl) are likely formed via molecular growth reactions at elevated residence times.3

The hydrogen-abstraction/acetylene-addition (HACA) mechanism has been central for the last decades in attempting to rationalize the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as detected in carbonaceous meteorites such as in Murchison. Nevertheless, the basic reaction mechanisms leading to the formation of even the simplest tricyclic PAHs like anthracene and phenanthrene are still elusive. Here, by exploring the previously unknown chemistry of the ortho-biphenylyl radical with acetylene, we deliver compelling evidence on the efficient synthesis of phenanthrene in carbon-rich circumstellar environments. However, the lack of formation of the anthracene isomer implies that HACA alone cannot be responsible for the formation of PAHs in extreme environments. Considering the overall picture, alternative pathways such as vinylacetylene-mediated reactions are required to play a crucial role in the synthesis of complex PAHs in circumstellar envelopes of dying carbon-rich stars.

Exploiting a high temperature chemical reactor, we explored the pyrolysis of helium-seeded n-decane as a surrogate of the n-alkane fraction of Jet Propellant-8 (JP-8) over a temperature range of 1100-1600 K at a pressure of 600 Torr. The nascent products were identified in situ in a supersonic molecular beam via single photon vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization coupled with a mass spectroscopic analysis of the ions in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ReTOF). Our studies probe, for the first time, the initial reaction products formed in the decomposition of n-decane-including radicals and thermally labile closed-shell species effectively excluding mass growth processes. The present study identified 18 products: molecular hydrogen (H), C2 to C7 1-alkenes [ethylene (CH) to 1-heptene (CH)], C1-C3 radicals [methyl (CH), vinyl (CH), ethyl (CH), propargyl (CH), allyl (CH)], small C1-C3 hydrocarbons [methane (CH), acetylene (CH), allene (CH), methylacetylene (CH)], along with higher-order reaction products [1,3-butadiene (CH), 2-butene (CH)]. On the basis of electronic structure calculations, n-decane decomposes initially by C-C bond cleavage (excluding the terminal C-C bonds) producing a mixture of alkyl radicals from ethyl to octyl. These alkyl radicals are unstable under the experimental conditions and rapidly dissociate by C-C bond β-scission to split ethylene (CH) plus a 1-alkyl radical with the number of carbon atoms reduced by two and 1,4-, 1,5-, 1,6-, or 1,7-H shifts followed by C-C β-scission producing alkenes from propene to 1-octene in combination with smaller 1-alkyl radicals. The higher alkenes become increasingly unstable with rising temperature. When the C-C β-scission continues all the way to the propyl radical (CH), it dissociates producing methyl (CH) plus ethylene (CH). Also, at higher temperatures, hydrogen atoms can abstract hydrogen from CH to yield n-decyl radicals, while methyl (CH) can also abstract hydrogen or recombine with hydrogen to form methane. These n-decyl radicals can decompose via C-C-bond β-scission to C3 to C9 alkenes.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are omnipresent in the interstellar medium (ISM) and also in carbonaceous meteorites (CM) such as Murchison. However, the basic reaction routes leading to the formation of even the simplest PAH-naphthalene (C H )-via the hydrogen-abstraction/acetylene-addition (HACA) mechanism still remain ambiguous. Here, by revealing the uncharted fundamental chemistry of the styrenyl (C H ) and the ortho-vinylphenyl radicals (C H )-key transient species of the HACA mechanism-with acetylene (C H ), we provide the first solid experimental evidence on the facile formation of naphthalene in a simulated combustion environment validating the previously postulated HACA mechanism for these two radicals. This study highlights, at the molecular level spanning combustion and astrochemistry, the importance of the HACA mechanism to the formation of the prototype PAH naphthalene.