The formation, reaction and deactivation of O2(1Ʃ+g)

Abstract

Abstract The paper describes an investigation of the reaction with ozone and the deactivation of O2(1Ʃ+g). A flow technique was employed, and O2(1Ʃ+g) was produced photochemically by the sequence of reactions: O2 + hv(λ=1470Å) → O(1D) + O(3P), (4) O(1D) + O2(3Ʃ-g) → O2(1Ʃ+g) + O(3P). (5) The advantages achieved by this method of generation of the excited species are discussed. Rate constants were obtained for the reaction of O2(1Ʃ+g) with ozone, and for its quenching by N2, and an estimate is made of the efficiency of wall deactivation. An upper limit is suggested for the quenching of O2(1Ʃ+g) by molecular oxygen. The results are compared with those of earlier investigations, and the comparison is used to calculate the rate constant of the ‘energy-pooling’ reaction: O2(1∆g) + O2(1∆g) → O2(1Ʃ+g) + O2(3Ʃ-g). (1) Measurement of the concentrations of O2(1Ʃ+g) and of atomic oxygen formed on photolysis allows the efficiency of the energy transfer process (5) to be assessed relative to the efficiency of quenching by O2, N2 or Ar. The several rate constants measured or estimated are tabulated at the end of the paper in table 3.