Temperature‐Dependent Rate Coefficients and Theoretical Calculations for the OH+Cl₂O Reaction

Abstract

Rate coefficients k for the OH+Cl(2)O reaction are measured as a function of temperature (230-370 K) and pressure by using pulsed laser photolysis to produce OH radicals and laser-induced fluorescence to monitor their loss under pseudo-first-order conditions in OH. The reaction rate coefficient is found to be independent of pressure, within the precision of our measurements at 30-100 Torr (He) and 100 Torr (N(2)). The rate coefficients obtained at 100 Torr (He) showed a negative temperature dependence with a weak non-Arrhenius behavior. A room-temperature rate coefficient of k(1)(297 K)=(7.5±1.1)×10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) is obtained, where the quoted uncertainties are 2σ and include estimated systematic errors. Theoretical methods are used to examine OH···OCl(2) and OH···ClOCl adduct formation and the potential-energy surfaces leading to the HOCl+ClO (1a) and Cl+HOOCl (1d) products in reaction (1) at the hybrid density functional UMPW1K/6-311++G(2df,p) level of theory. The OH···OCl(2) and OH···ClOCl adducts are found to have binding energies of about 0.2 kcal mol(-1). The reaction is calculated to proceed through weak pre-reactive complexes. Transition-state energies for channels (1a) and (1d) are calculated to be about 1.4 and about 3.3 kcal mol(-1) above the energy of the reactants. The results from the present study are compared with previously reported rate coefficients, and the interpretation of the possible non-Arrhenius behavior is discussed.