The formation, reaction and deactivation of O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g )

Abstract
The paper describes an investigation of the reaction with ozone and the deactivation of O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ). A flow technique was employed, and O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ) was produced photochemically by the sequence of reactions: O 2 + hv (λ=1470Å) → O( 1 D ) + O( 3 P ), (4) O( 1 D ) + O 2 ( 3 Ʃ - g ) → O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ) + O( 3 P ). (5) The advantages achieved by this method of generation of the excited species are discussed. Rate constants were obtained for the reaction of O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ) with ozone, and for its quenching by N 2 , and an estimate is made of the efficiency of wall deactivation. An upper limit is suggested for the quenching of O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ) by molecular oxygen. The results are compared with those of earlier investigations, and the comparison is used to calculate the rate constant of the ‘energy-pooling’ reaction: O 2 ( 1g ) + O 2 ( 1g ) → O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ) + O 2 ( 3 Ʃ - g ). (1) Measurement of the concentrations of O 2 ( 1 Ʃ + g ) and of atomic oxygen formed on photolysis allows the efficiency of the energy transfer process (5) to be assessed relative to the efficiency of quenching by O 2 , N 2 or Ar. The several rate constants measured or estimated are tabulated at the end of the paper in table 3.