Direct measurement of methylene removal rates by species containing the OH functional group

Abstract

The technique of laser flash photolysis/laser absorption has been used to obtain absolute removal rate constants for singlet methylene (¹CH₂) with N₂, ketene (CH₂CO), H₂O, D₂O, methanol (CH₃OH), ethanol (C₂H₅OH), and n-propanol (n-C₃H₇OH) at 296 ± 2 K. The rate constants were found to be (0.130 ± 0.012), (2.38 ± 0.18), (1.60 ± 0.17), (1.05 ± 0.13), (2.20 ± 0.19), (2.61 ± 0.23) and (4.15 ± 0.44)× 10^–10 cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1, respectively. The removal rate constants for the alcohols are consistently greater than those for the corresponding alkanes.