Ozone isotope enrichment: isotopomer-specific rate coefficients

Abstract

Six rate coefficients of relative ozone formation contradict the role of molecular symmetry in the process that results in the enrichment of heavy ozone isotopomers. The results show that collisions between light atoms, such as 16O, and heavy molecules, such as 34O2 and 36O2, have a rate coefficient advantage of about 25 and 50 percent, respectively, over collisions involving heavy atoms and light molecules. These results suggest that the observed isotope effect for each isotopomer may be caused by the preponderance of a single reaction channel and not through molecular symmetry selection.