Kinetic isotope effect effects, while "k"/"k" ~ 1.15-1.3 are typical for β secondary kinetic isotope effect. For reactants containing several isotopically-substituted β-hydrogen atoms, the observed isotope effect is often the result of several H/D's at the β position acting in concert. In these cases, the effect of each isotopically-labeled atom is multiplicative, and cases where "k"/"k" > 2 are not uncommon. The following simple expressions relating deuterium and tritium kinetic isotope effects, which are also known as the Swain equation (or the Swain-Schaad-Stivers equations), can be derived from the general expression given above using some simplifications: i.e., In deriving these expressions, the reasonable
Hydrogen isotope biogeochemistry today's deuterium originated from this proton-proton fusion after sufficient cooling. Tritium, or hydrogen-3, with one proton and two neutrons, was produced by proton and neutron collisions in the early universe as well, but it has since radioactively decayed to helium-3. Modern tritium cannot be explained by big bang nucleosynthesis because of tritium's short half-life of 12.3 years. Today's tritium concentration is instead governed by nuclear reactions and cosmic rays. The radioactive beta decay of tritium to helium releases an electron and an antineutrino, with an average energy release of 18.6 MeV. It is important to note that this is classified