Chemical Reactions of Energetic Chlorine Atoms Produced by Neutron Capture in Liquid Systems

The fraction of the radioactive energetic chlorine atoms, formed by radiative neutron capture, that react with inactive carbon tetrachloride to give radioactive carbon tetrachloride, or with a solvent to give other radioactive organic halides, was studied as a function of composition in solutions of carbon tetrachloride in silicon tetrachloride, cyclohexane, and benzene. The reactions of similarly formed atoms were also studied for solutions of chlorine in cyclohexane and in benzene.No significant effect of the temperature of the bombarded solution or of the energy of the neutrons was found.The results are examined in terms of a theory which predicts the concentration dependence of some of the observed reactions, and alternative descriptions are suggested. It is concluded that the observed reactions occur before the recoil atoms are reduced to thermal equilibrium, and that particular reactions predominate in certain energy ranges.