8. The Reactions of C₂F₄ ⁺ with C₂H₄, C₂H₃F, C₂H₂F₂ and C₂HF₃

This chapter continues the investigation on the effects of fluorination in ethene, but the reactant ion is now a fluorinated ethene itself, the tetrafluoroethene cation, C₂F₄ ⁺. In the original study of the reactions with CF⁺, CF₂ ⁺ and CF₃ ⁺ (Chap.​ 7) a new source gas was used, perfluoropropane (C₃F₈). This gas was used simply out of curiosity to see if it yielded the ions in question more efficiently than the usual choice of source gases—either tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) or hexafluoroethane (C₂F₆). It was then discovered, albeit unintentionally, that C₃F₈ can be used to produce C₂F₄ ⁺ ions and the decision was made to include this reactant in the fluorinated ethene investigation. These data were collected by myself and Dr Chris Mayhew using the SIFT apparatus in the University of Birmingham Department of Physics and Astronomy in the spring and summer of 2009.