The kinetics of the unimolecular decomposition of the n-C 4 H 9 radical has been studied experimentally in a heated tubular flow reactor coupled to a photoionization mass spectrometer. Rate constants for the decomposition were determined in time-resolved experiments as a function of temperature (560-620 K) and bath gas density ((3-18) × 10 16 molecules cm -3 ) in two bath gases, He and N 2 . The rate constants are in the falloff region under the conditions of the experiments. Structures, vibrational frequencies, and barriers for internal rotations of n-butyl and iso-butyl radicals and their decomposition transition states were obtained by ab initio calculations using UHF/6-31G* and MP2/6-31G* methods. The results of ab initio calculation, together with the reanalysis of earlier studies of the reverse reactions, were used to create transition-state models of the reactions of unimolecular decomposition of n-butyl (1) and iso-butyl (2) radicals. Falloff behavior of reaction 1 was reproduced using master equation modeling with the energy barrier height for decomposition obtained from optimization of the agreement between experimental and calculated rate constants. The values of 〈∆E〉 all ) -28 cm -1 (He) and -40 cm -1 (N 2 ) for the average energy loss per collision were obtained using an exponential-down model. The resulting models of the reactions provide the high-pressure limit rate constants for the decomposition reactions (k 1 ∞ (n-C 4 H 9 f C 2 H 5 + C 2 H 4 ) ) 1.06 × 10 13 exp(-14005 K/T), k 2 ∞ (iso-C 4 H 9 f CH 3 + C 3 H 6 ) ) 2.14 × 10 12 T 0.65 exp(-15529 K/T) s -1 ) and the reverse reactions (k -1 ∞ (C 2 H 5 + C 2 H 4 f n-C 4 H 9 ) ) 6.59 × 10 -21 T 2.44 exp(-2697 K/T), k -2 ∞ (CH 3 + C 3 H 6 f iso-C 4 H 9 ) ) 1.66× 10 -20 T 2.57 exp(-3879 K/T) cm 3 molecule -1 s -1 ). Parametrization of the temperature and pressure dependence of the unimolecular rate constants for the temperature range 298-900 K and pressures 0.001-10 atm in He and N 2 is provided using the modified Lindemann-Hinshelwood expression.X Abstract published in AdVance ACS Abstracts, February 15, 1996.n-C 4 H 9 a C 2 H 5 + C 2 H 4 (1,-1) 5318