248-nm Laser Photolysis of CHBr3/O-Atom Mixtures: Kinetic Evidence for UV CO(A) Chemiluminescence in the Reaction of Methylidyne Radicals with Atomic Oxygen

Abstract

The 4th positive and Cameron band emissions from electronically excited CO have been observed for the first time in 248-nm pulsed laser photolysis of a trace amount of CHBr(3) vapor in an excess of O atoms. O atoms were produced by dissociation of N(2)O (or O(2)) in a cw-microwave discharge cavity in 2.0 Torr of He at 298 K. The CO emission intensity in these bands showed a quadratic dependence on the laser fluence employed. Temporal profiles of the CO(A) and other excited-state products that formed in the photoproduced precursor + O-atom reactions were measured by recording their time-resolved chemiluminescence in discrete vibronic bands. The CO 4th positive transition (A(1)Pi, v' = 0 --> X(1)Sigma(+), v' ' = 2) near 165.7 nm was monitored in this work to deduce the pseudo-first-order decay kinetics of the CO(A) chemiluminescence in the presence of various added substrates (CH(4), NO, N(2)O, H(2), and O(2)). From this, the second-order rate coefficient values were determined for reactions of these substrates with the photoproduced precursors. The measured reactivity trends suggest that the prominent precursors responsible for the CO(A) chemiluminescence are the methylidyne radicals, CH(X(2)Pi) and CH(a(4)Sigma(-)), whose production requires the absorption of at least 2 laser photons by the photolysis mixture. The O-atom reactions with brominated precursors (CBr, CHBr, and CBr(2)), which also form in the photolysis, are shown to play a minor role in the production of the CO(A or a) chemiluminescence. However, the CBr(2) + O-atom reaction was identified as a significant source for the 289.9-nm Br(2) chemiluminescence that was also observed in this work. The 282.2-nm OH and the 336.2-nm NH chemiluminescences were also monitored to deduce the kinetics of CH(X(2)Pi) and CH(a(4)Sigma(-)) reactions when excess O(2) and NO were present.