Photofragmentation of nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is reported in the ultraviolet (UV) (λ = 240 nm and λ = 308
nm) and in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regime (55 nm ≤ λ ≤ 110 nm, corresponding to the photon energy
range 11.3 eV ≤ E ≤ 22.5 eV), where pulsed radiation is used to excite the neutral molecule in the gas
phase. The neutral photolysis products that are formed upon UV photolysis are subsequently probed by
photoionization mass spectrometry by using time-correlated tunable laser-produced plasma VUV radiation.
UV-pump/VUV-probe experiments allow us to identify two primary photolysis channels at λ = 308 nm: (i)
Cl + NO2 and (ii) O + ClNO. Primary quantum yields for atomic product formation are deduced from
photoionization experiments for both channels: γ308 nm(Cl) = 0.93 ± 0.10, and γ308 nm(O) = 0.07 ± 0.01. The
yield of Cl formation (N(Cl)) is significantly reduced relative to that of O formation (N(O)) at λ = 240 nm,
corresponding to a N(Cl)/N(O) ratio of 1.44 ± 0.15. The atomic oxygen is found to be formed in its 3P
ground state at both photolysis wavelengths. The present results are compared to earlier work, and atmospheric
implications of the present results are briefly discussed. The tunable VUV light source also allows us to
perform photoionization mass spectrometry experiments on nitryl chloride without primary photolysis. These
experiments yield the first ionization energy of ClNO2 as well as fragmentation thresholds of ClNO2
+.