Primary dissociation processes have been investigated on “isolated” excited n-butane. The excitation of the molecules results from electron impact in a glow discharge. The investigations yielded the following results:1. Formation of new stable substances by rupture of one or two C—C-bonds and the following transfer of Η-atoms (intramolecular disproportionation).2. These dissociation products can be explained quantitatively by a simple reaction scheme.3. The observation of ratios of small whole numbers between analogous dissociation processes is taken as a basic for this reaction scheme.4. These ratios are not identical for alternating current (A.C.) and for direct current (D.C.) glow discharges. A discontinuous variation is observed.5. In spite of the different results for A.C. and D.C. discharges both results can be explained quantitatively by one reaction scheme.6. According to this reaction scheme, a single excitation of the molecule is followed by the rupture of two C—C-bonds successively.These results indicate that the general appearance of ratios with small whole numbers and their discontinuous variation is a specific property of the molecular field.
