THE COMBINATION OF A FAST FLOW TUBE REACTOR WITH CHIRPED PULSE FOURIER TRANSFORM MILLIMETER WAVE SPECTROSCOPY TO STUDY RADICAL SPECTRA AND PRODUCT BRANCHING RATIOS FROM GAS PHASE REACTIONS
Résumé
Radicals are important reactants and products of gas phase reactions in atmospheric, combustion, and astrophysical environments. Many experimental techniques have been used to observe radicals from kinetic reactors, with the use of rotational spectroscopy growing in this role during the last decade. A fast flow tube reactor has recently been combined with chirped pulse Fourier transform millimeter wave spectroscopy for the dual purpose of observing product branching ratios from reactions and selectively producing radicals for spectroscopy. Radicals are produced in the well characterized laminar flow of the fast flow tube using a microwave discharge of F2, where free F atoms can then abstract hydrogen from -CH bonds. The products of reactions can then be monitored using a mass spectrometer and millimeter wave spectroscopy. Design of apparatus and proof of principle studies of the O2+ CH2OHreaction and its products will be discussed.