Time-resolved fourier-transform infrared emission in the O(3P)+ CHF(1A′) reaction

Abstract

Time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) emission has been used to study the products of the O(³P)+ CHF(¹A′) reaction. The channels O + CHF → CO + HF (1a), → CO + H + F (1b) are estimated to be formed in the ratio 1a : 1b 1.2 : 1 from experiments in which F atoms are converted quantitatively to DF on the addition of D₂, and the nascent CO vibrational distribution is similar to that predicted for a statistical distribution of energy in both channels. However, preliminary measurements of the HF formed in process (1a) show a vibrational energy far less than would be expected statistically. Evidence for the formation of highly internally excited CO comes from observation of Asundi and triplet-band emission in the near-IR and the results are discussed briefly in terms of what is known of the HFCO potential-energy surface, and of energy distributions measured for the related F + HCO system.