The Dependence on H2O and on NH3 of the Kinetics of the self‐reaction of HO2 in the gas‐phase formation of HO2·H2O and HO2·NH3 complexes

Abstract

AbstractElectron pulse radiolysis at ⋍298°K of 2 atm H2 containing 5 torr O2 produces HO2 free radical whose disappearance by reaction (1), HO2 + HO2 →H2O2 + O2, is monitored by kinetic spectrophotometry at 230.5 nm. Using a literature value for the HO2 absorption cross section, the values k1 = 2.5×10−12 cm3/molec·sec, which is in reasonable agreement with two earlier studies, and G(H) G(HO2) ⋍13 are obtained. In the presence of small amounts of added H2O or NH3, the observed second‐order decay rate of the HO2 signal is found to increase by up to a factor of ⋍2.5. A proposed kinetic model quantitatively explains these data in terms of the formation of previously unpostulated 1:1 complexes, HO2 + H2O ⇋ HO2·H2O (4a) and HO2 + NH3⇋ HO2·NH3 (4b), which are more reactive than uncomplexed HO2 toward a second uncomplexed HO2 radical. The following equilibrium constants, which agree with independent theoretical calculations on these complexes, are derived from the data: 2×10−20≲K4a≲6.3 × 10−19 cm3/molec at 295°K and K4b = 3.4 × 10−18 cm3/molec at 298°K. Several deuterium isotope effects are also reported, including kH/kD = 2.8 for reaction (1). The atmospheric significance of these results is pointed out.