Addition of n-pentane to slowly reacting mixtures of hydrogen + oxygen at 480 °C

Abstract

A detailed analysis has been made of the products formed when small amounts of pentane are added to slowly reacting mixtures of H₂+ O₂ at 480 °C. Use of the rate constants for attack of H, O, OH and HO₂ at specific C—H bonds in pentane enables the proportion of pent-1-yl, pent-2-yl and pent-3-yl radicals to be calculated for all mixtures studied. Use of a wide range of H₂ and, particularly, of O₂(8–355 Torr) pressures makes it possible to confirm suggested mechanisms for the oxidation of each of the three species of pentyl radical. Rate constants have been obtained for a large number of the elementary reactions involved, almost all of which have not been determined previously. The values of the rate constants form a very consistent pattern with those determined from studies with the C₂–C₄ alkanes and neopentane as additive.