Chemical reaction rates flash photolysis method

Photolytic methods are used to generate atoms, radicals, or other highly reactive molecules and ions for the purpose of studying their chemical reactivity. Along with pulse radiolysis, described in the next section, laser flash photolysis is capable of generating electronically excited molecules in an instant, although there are of course a few chemical reactions that do so at ordinary rates. To illustrate but a fraction of the capabilities, consider the following photochemical processes ... 

The gas reactions listed in Table 2 have high rates at room temperature and emission occurs not too far in the infrared. These restrictions are due to limitations of the experimental method which may be overcome in the future. The table could be considerably enlarged by including alkali-metal reactions which have largely been studied by molecular beam methods. 21> Though much discussed, chemical lasers on alkali halides have not yet been realized experimentally. Other results, obtained for instance by flash photolysis/absorption studies, or by the study of combustion, are less detailed and axe not included here. But even in this limited form. Table 2 indicates that nonequilibrium distributions which can lead to molecular amplification are often found and are perhaps the rule rather than the exception in simple chemical reactions. 

The experimental techniques used to study the kinetics of OH radical reactions can be separated Into two distinct methods, namely, absolute and relative rate techniques. The absolute methods have employed discharge flow, flash photolysis, modulation-phase shift, and pulsed radlolysls systems, while a variety of differing chemical systems have been used to determine relative rate data. These techniques are briefly discussed below. 

Time-resolved measurements were initiated both by physicists, who were principally interested in photophysical processes that left the chemical structures of the molecules intact, and by chemists, who were mainly interested in the chemical alterations of the irradiated molecules, but also in the associated photophysical steps. The parallel development of these two lines of research is reflected in the terminology. For example, the term flash photolysis, as used by chemists, applies to time-resolved measurements of physical property changes caused by chemical processes induced by the absorption of a light flash (pulse). Flash photolysis serves to identify short-lived intermediates generated by bond breakage, such as free radicals and radical ions. Moreover, it allows the determination of rate constants of reactions of intermediates. Therefore, this method is appropriate for elucidating reaction mechanisms. 

The importance of developing an appropriate theory became increasingly evident. Although theory only provides relatively inaccurate rate constants, it nevertheless predicts the range of the rate constant variation and/or its temperature dependence. This is often very helpful in the elucidation of the reaction mechanism. Equally important was the development of experimental methods of creating highly non-equilibrium conditions such as the shock tube technique, flash photolysis and various kinds of chemical activation. 

A very widely employed method for the measurement of spin-orbit state-specific rate constants is the time-resolved measurement of the concentrations of individual atomic levels after formation of these species from a suitable precursor, either by flash photolysis [13], or, more recently, by laser photodissociation. The concentrations of the various atomic reactant states are monitored by atomic absorption or fluorescence spectroscopy using atomic emission sources [14], or, for spin-orbit-excited states, by observation of the spontaneous infrared emission [15-18]. Recently, Leone and co-workers have utilized gain/absoiption of a colour centre and diode infrared laser to probe the relative populations of ground and spin-orbit excited halogen atoms produced in a chemical reaction [19] and also by photodissociation [20],... 

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