Exchange reactions in hot atom chemistry. I. Gaseous methyl iodide

Abstract

High organic retentions of iodine-128 following the ¹²⁷I(n,γ)¹²⁸ I reaction in gaseous mixtures of methyl iodide and iodine result from a heterogeneous exchange reaction. The time-dependent organic retention can be related quantitatively to the 'age' of the radioactive iodine atoms. There is no evidence for a significant contribution from hot atom reactions, nor from the direct homogeneous exchange of iodine atoms with methyl iodide.