Efficiency of formation of CH₃O in the reaction of CH₃O₂ with ClO

Abstract

A discharge‐flow apparatus was used to determine the branching ratio α for the channel of the reaction of ClO with CH 3 O 2 that leads to the formation of CH 3 O. The experiments were performed at 2 Torr pressure and at room temperature. ClO was the excess reactant and was measured mass spectrometrically; CH 3 O was detected by laser‐induced fluorescence. The value of α was shown to depend on the fraction β of the reaction of CH 3 O 2 with Cl atoms that leads to the formation of CH 3 O. For β = 0, 0.5 and 1, the derived values of α are 0.28±0.07, 0.32±0.08 and 0.42±0.09, respectively. Comparison with other published results suggests the possibility of three significant product channels for the reaction of CH 3 O 2 with ClO.