Review of Hull approaches

In the later sections, frequent references are made to mechanistic details and kinetic data determined by use of the competitive methods developed at Hull specifically for combustion chemistry. Therefore, it is useful at this stage to outline the basic principles and chemistry which underpin the usefulness of the approaches. 

The H2 -t- O2 addition method has been used to obtain mechanistic and kinetic data on most Cj—C7 alkane oxidations, and in many cases the data remain unique. 

This method offers at least two advantages in terms of ease of interpretation  

The second advantage is simply illustrated by considering propyl radicals. The oxidation of propane produces both I-C3H7 and 2-C3H7 radicals, and for quantitative interpretation the proportion of each formed must be known. 

As X may be OH, H, HO2 and CH3, precise calculation of the proportion is difficult, as discussed later. However in the oxidations of butanal and i-butanai specifically only I-C3H7 and 2-C3H7 radicals, respectively, are produced. 

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