Kinetics of the gas‐phase reaction of CF 3 OC(O)H with OH radicals at 242–328 K

The rate constants, k 1 , of the reaction of CF 3 OC(O)H with OH radicals were measured by using a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic technique in an 11.5‐dm 3 reaction chamber at 242–328 K. OH radicals were produced by UV photolysis of an O 3 –H 2 O–He mixture at an initial pressure of 200 Torr. Ozone was continuously introduced into the reaction chamber during UV irradiation. With CF 3 OCH 3 as a reference compound, k 1 at 298 K was (1.65 ± 0.13) × 10 −14 cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 . The temperature dependence of k 1 was determined as (2.33 ± 0.42) × 10 −12 exp[−(1480 ± 60)/ T ] cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 ; possible systematic uncertainty could add an additional 20% to the k 1 values. The atmospheric lifetime of CF 3 OC(O)H with respect to reaction with OH radicals was calculated to be 3.6 years. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 337–344 2004