Formation yields of epoxides and O( 3 P) atoms from the gas‐phase reactions of O 3 with a series of alkenes

Reactions of ozone with propene, 1‐butene, cis ‐2‐butene, trans ‐2‐butene, 2,3‐dimethyl‐2‐butene, and 1,3‐butadiene were carried out in N 2 and air diluent at atmospheric pressure and room temperature and, by monitoring the formation of the epoxides and/or a carbonyl compound formed from the reactions of O( 3 P) atoms with these alkenes, the formation yields of O( 3 P) atoms from the O 3 reactions were investigated. No evidence for O( 3 P) atom formation was obtained, and upper limits to O( 3 P) atom formation yields of <4% for propene, <5% for 1.3‐butadiene, and <2% for the other four alkenes were derived. The reaction of O 3 with 1,3‐butadiene led to the direct formation of 3,4‐epoxy‐1‐butene in (2.3 ± 0.4)% yield. These data are in agreement with the majority of the literature data and show that O( 3 P) atom formation is not a significant pathway in O 3 —alkene reactions, and that epoxide formation only occurs to any significant extent from conjugated dienes. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.