Some Reactions of Oxygen Atoms. III. Cyclopropane, Cyclobutane, Cyclopentane, and Cyclohexane

The rate that oxygen atoms react with certain cycloalkanes was determined at 25°, 70°, and 125°C by the competition for oxygen atoms between a cycloalkane and hexafluoropropene. Oxygen atoms were generated by the mercury‐sensitized decomposition of N₂O. Then, the known rate‐constant expression for C₃F₆ was used to calculate the rate constant for the oxygen atom—cycloalkane reaction. The Arrhenius parameters A and E are as follows: $$\begin{array}{ccc}\mathrm{Cycloalkane}& {\text{A×10}}^{\text{−9}}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}(}{\mathrm{liter\; mole}}^{\text{−1}}·{\sec }^{\text{−1}})& \mathrm{E\hspace{0.17em}(}\mathrm{kcal/mole})\\ {\mathrm{cyclo-C}}_3{\mathrm{H}}_6& \text{0.31}& \text{3.8}\\ {\mathrm{cyclo-C}}_4{\mathrm{H}}_8& \text{6.1}& \text{3.9}\\ {\mathrm{cyclo-C}}_5{\mathrm{H}}_{10}& \text{4.8}& \text{2.6}\\ {\mathrm{cyclo-C}}_6{\mathrm{H}}_{12}& \text{7.6}& \text{2.8}\end{array}$$