Laser emission and energy partitioning in the reaction of oxygen atoms with 3,3,3-trifluoromethylacetylene

The vibrational energy distributions of HF and CO formed in the O(³P) + CF₃C₂H reaction have been measured by means of HF laser emission and CO laser resonance absorption methods. CO was found to be vibrationally excited to υ = 3 with a Boltzmann vibrational temperature of 2200 K. The observed CO distribution is consistent with those predicted by different statistical models, indicating the presence of a long-lived reaction intermediate (CF₃CH=CO). The observed HF distribution (N₁/N₀ = 0.38 ± 0.06), however, was found to be twice as much as that predicted by these models, presumably due to the presence of other more exothermic secondary reactions, such as CF₃CH + O and NO₂, the photochemical source of the O atom.