Hydrogen isotope replacement reactions on rhenium

The existence of a mobile equilibrium at room temperature between part of the hydrogen adsorbed on rhenium and gaseous hydrogen is demonstrated by the easy exchange of isotopes between the adsorbed layer and the gas phase. The adsorbed gas is desorbed as a mixture of homonuclear molecules (of H₂ or D₂)and of the isotopically mixed species (HD). However, the replacement reactions are not symmetrical; there is a greater proportion of HD in the desorbed gas when deuterium is replaced by hydrogen than in the converse reaction. This kinetic isotope effect is attributed to differences between the zero-point energies of the various hydrogen containing species. Quantatitive agreement between the shapes of the experimentally observed desorption curves and calculated curves is obtained if the zero-point energy of the bond between a surface rhenium atom and deuterium is assigned the value 2.6 kcal mole^-1.