Systematic trends in the alkali metal-alkyl iodide reaction: The translational energy dependence of the reaction cross section

The trends in the translational energy dependence of the reaction cross section and of the product energy distribution for the series of M + Rl reactions are discussed. The method is based on an assumed (model) dynamic constraint and the use of information theory to determine the reaction probability matrix which corresponds to the constraint. For different mass combinations, the energy dependence of the reaction cross section will exhibit a post-threshold maximum or minimum.