Molecular Beam Study of Ethyl Nitrite Photodissociation and Unimolecular Decay of Ethoxy Fragments

Abstract

AbstractThe UV photodissociation of ethyl nitrite at excitation wavelenghts of 350, 248 and 193 nm was studied by photofragment translational spectroscopy in a pulsed molecular beam. At all three wavelengths the first dissociation step yields nitric oxide and ethoxy radicals, accompanied by a considerable release of translational energy. At 350 nm the ethoxy radicals are formed with internal energy low enough to be stable under collisionless conditions. At 248 and 193 nm significant fractions of the ethoxy radicals emerge with sufficient internal energy to decay spontaneously into formaldehyde and methyl radicals. At 248 nm a kinematic analysis of the photofragment arrival time distributions is consistent with a sequential dissociation mechanism.