Kinetics of the gas‐phase reactions of the oh radical with selected glycol ethers, glycols, and alcohols

Using a relative rate method, rate constants have been measured for the gas‐phase reactions of the OH radical with 1‐hexanol, 1‐methoxy‐2‐propanol, 2‐butoxyethanol, 1,2‐ethanediol, and 1,2‐propanediol at 296±2 K, of (in units of 10 −12 cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 ): 15.8±3.5; 20.9±3.1; 29.4±4.3; 14.7±2.6; and 21.5±4.0, respectively, where the error limits include the estimated overall uncertainties in the rate constants for the reference compounds. These OH radical reaction rate constants are higher than certain of the literature values, by up to a factor of 2. Rate constants were also measured for the reactions of 1‐methoxy‐2‐propanol and 2‐butoxyethanol with NO 3 radicals and O 3 , with respective NO 3 radical and O 3 reaction rate constants (in cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 units) of: 1‐methoxy‐2‐propanol, (1.7±0.7)×10 −15 , and <1.1×10 −19 ; and 2‐butoxyethanol, (3.0±1.2)×10 −15 , and <1.1×10 −19 . The dominant tropospheric loss process for the alcohols, glycols, and glycol ethers studied here is calculated to be by reaction with the OH radical, with lifetimes of 0.4–0.8 day for a 24 h average OH radical concentration of 1.0×10 6 molecule cm −3 . © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 30: 533–540, 1998