AbstractUsing an in situ pulsed laser photolysis/pulsed laser‐induced fluorescence/technique, the OH reaction kinetics of a three‐ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), phenanthrene (and its deuterated form), was investigated over the temperature range of 373–1000 K. This study represents the first examination of the OH kinetics for phenanthrene at elevated temperatures using the absolute rate technique. The phenanthrene results indicate a temperature dependence similar to its isomer anthracene, reported previously in R. Ananthula, T. Yamada, and P. H. Taylor, J Phys Chem A 2006, 100, 3559–3566, over a similar temperature range. The phenanthrene rate constants are similar to anthracene at high temperature (ca. 1000 K) and a factor of ca. 2 lower at low temperatures (373–700 K). The rate measurements were best fitted by the following two‐parameter expression of the form ATn: k1(373–1000 K) = 4.98 ± 2.96 × 10−6 * T−1.97±0.10 (in units of cm3 molecule−1 s−1, error limits ±1σ). Rate measurements with deuterated phenanthrene below 725 K were indistinguishable from the phenanthrene rate measurements, within random error limits, providing strong evidence for an OH‐addition mechanism. The effects of PAH size on their reactivity with OH radicals based on selected data over the temperature range of 243–1200 K are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 39: 629–637, 2007