Notes. Nitrogen tracer studies on the decomposition of hydroxylamine in nitric acid

Abstract

The reaction of low concentrations of [¹⁵NH₃OH]⁺ with is otopically normal nitric acid produces singly labelled N₂O with equal amounts of ¹⁵NNO and N¹⁵NO and very little ¹⁵N₂O, but as [¹⁵NH₃OH⁺] increases there is an increasing amount of ¹⁵N₂O formed, the highest observed yield being [¹⁵N₂O]/[N₂O]_total= 0.23. This increase occurs as the system changes from one in which there is a net increase in nitrous acid due to oxidation of hydroxylamine to one in which hydroxylamine acts as a net scavenger of nitrous acid.