# Is the reaction between a proton and neutron feasible?

If we consider the reaction:

$$\require{mhchem} \ce{^1H + ^1n -> ^2H}$$

There is a net decrease in mass, so the process releases energy. I did a few calculations and got the energy of the process to be $6.405109\text{ MeV}$. Is this reaction feasible?

And as a follow-up, can this reaction be used practically for fusion? This reaction removes the difficulty in fusion of bringing like charged nuclei together, so I think the chance of proton colliding with a neutron is high.

• Well yes this is the first step in the fusion cycle process used by the Sun. – John Rennie May 15 '17 at 9:35
• @JohnRennie - I think you mean $p+p$. This one rather takes place after cooling the proton-neutron soup after Big Bang. – jaromrax May 15 '17 at 10:53
• @jaromrax: No I mean $p+n$. In the Sun protons convert to neutrons via a (very slow) weak interaction then there is a very fast $p+n$ reaction to form a deuteron then another to form $^3He$. – John Rennie May 15 '17 at 10:56
• @JohnRennie for some reason the \ce notation isnt working here. – Pritt Balagopal May 15 '17 at 11:05
• @JohnRennie - ok, so you mean what is usually written as $^1H+^1H \rightarrow ^2H + e^+ + \nu_e$. One point of view is that diproton scattering state decays to $^2H$. But to convert a proton, one would need an interaction with a neutrino (that usually escape Sun immediately). I am not starting a fight, I am curious about this.... – jaromrax May 15 '17 at 11:06