Kinetics And Mechanisms Of The OH Radical Initiated Degradation Of A Series Of Hydrofluoroethers

• Published in: WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 1999-01, Vol.35
• Main Authors: Nolan, Sinead, O'Sullivan, Niamh, Wenger, John, Sidebottom, Howard, Treacy, Jack
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric chemistry; Chemical bonds; Chlorofluorocarbon substitutes; Chlorofluorocarbons; Degradation; Free radicals; Kinetics; Organic chemistry; Ozone layer; Ozonosphere; Radicals; Reaction kinetics; Troposphere
• ISSN: 1746-448X; 1743-3541
• DOI: 10.2495/EURO990231

Kinetics and Mechanisms of the OH Radical Initiated Degradation of a Series of Hydrofluoroethers A contribution to subproject CMD Sinead Nolan*, Niamh O'Sullivan*, John Wenger*, Howard Sidebottom* and Jack Treacy^ ^Department of Chemistry, University College Dublin, Ireland ^School of Chemistry, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin 8, Ireland Introduction Realisation of the harmful effects of chlorofluorocarbon compounds (CFCs) on the ozone layer has led to the search for more environmentally acceptable alternatives. Hydrofluoroethers (HFEs) have been proposed as CFC replacements. One advantage of these compounds is the presence of C-H bonds which allows them to be attacked by OH radicals and thereby undergo reaction in the troposphere. In order to determine the tropospheric lifetimes of these compounds, a knowledge of their rates of reactions with OH radicals is required. In this work the rate con