Intramolecular Energy Flow and Bond Dissociation in the Collision between Vibrationally Excited Toluene and HF

Intramolecular energy flow and C-$H_{methyl}$ and C-$H_{ring}$ bond dissociations in vibrationally excited toluene in the collision with HF have been studied by use of classical trajectory procedures. The energy lost by the vibrationally excited toluene upon collision is not large and it increases slowly with increasing total vibrational energy content between 20,000 and 45,000 $cm ^{-1}$. Above the energy content of 45,000 $cm ^{-1}$, however, energy loss decreases. Furthermore, in the highly excited toluene, toluene gains energy from incident HF. The temperature dependence of energy loss is negligible between 200 and 400 K. Energy transfer to or from the excited methyl C-H bond occurs in strong collisions with HF transferring relatively large amount of its translational energy (>> $k_BT$) in a single step, whereas energy transfer to the ring C-H bond occurs in a series of small steps. When the total energy content $E_T$ of toluene is sufficiently high, either C-H bond can dissociate. The C-$H_{methyl}$ dissociation probability is higher than the C-$H_{ring}$ dissociation probability. The dissociation of the ring C-H bond is not the result of the intermolecular energy flow from the direct collision between the ring C-H and HF but the intramolecular flow of energy from the methyl group to the ring C-H stretch. The C-$H_{ring}$${\cdot}{\cdot}{\cdot}$HF interaction is not important in transferring energy and in turn bond dissociation.