Premium
Comment on “Heavy ozone in the stratosphere”
Author(s) -
Anderson Stuart M.,
Kaye Jack A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl014i001p00091
Subject(s) - ozone , stratosphere , dissociation (chemistry) , recombination , reaction rate constant , isotope , physics , dissociative recombination , chemical physics , chemistry , nuclear physics , atmospheric sciences , kinetics , meteorology , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , gene
It has recently been suggested (Bates [1986]) that the rate constant for the O + O 2 recombination reaction to form ozone should be surprisingly dependent on the isotopic composition of the reactants and products through their symmetry numbers. The argument neglected the fact that isotope exchange and recombination reactions share a common energized collision complex, which can decay by dissociation to products which are isotopically distinct from the original reactants. Proper accounting for this additional exit channel in isotopically labeled O 3 * eliminates this apparent "symmetry number" effect.