Reaction of Oxygen Atoms with Acetaldehyde

Abstract

The reaction of the ground-state triplet oxygen atoms with acetaldehyde at room temperature has been reinvestigated. Two different sources of oxygen atoms have been used: mercury photosensitized decomposition of nitrous oxide and photolysis of nitrogen dioxide at 3660 Å. The results confirm the earlier conclusion from this Laboratory that the primary attack involves the abstraction of the aldehydic H atoms and not an insertion into the CH bonds of the aldehyde nor other primary steps suggested recently in the literature.