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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
Published on: August 18, 2017
Chlorine isotope fractionation in the stratosphere
J C Laube1, J Kaiser, W T Sturges
1School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR47TJ, UK. j.laube@uea.ac.uk
Abstract:
Chlorinated organic compounds are important contributors to the anthropogenic enhancement of stratospheric ozone depletion. We report measurements of stratospheric isotope fractionation in such a compound. Stratospheric and tropospheric difluorodichloromethane (CF2Cl2) were found to have the largest relative 37Cl/35Cl isotope ratio difference ever measured for a natural compound. The increase of the relative isotope ratio difference with altitude was tightly correlated to the corresponding decrease in the CF2Cl2 mixing ratio. The observed relationship has a high potential to provide new insights into atmospheric chemistry and transport processes.
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In a chemical reaction, a relationship exists between the concentration of reactants and the rate at which the reaction proceeds. The study to measure this relationship is known as the kinetics of a chemical reaction. Kinetic studies are used to deduce the rate law of a chemical reaction, which provides information about the species involved during the transition state of the rate-determining step. Thus, kinetic studies help to derive the mechanism of a reaction.

