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Updated: Jan 13, 2026
Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization
Published on: November 27, 2015
Room Temperature Kinetics of the Reaction of OH with Ethylene Oxide
Megan Woods1, Frank A F Winiberg2, Xu Zhang2
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States.
Abstract:
The gas-phase oxidation of ethylene oxide (EtO, C2H4O) by the hydroxyl radical (OH) is the primary atmospheric pathway for removing this known carcinogen from the troposphere. The rate coefficient of the OH + EtO reaction was measured at room temperature (296 K) in a temperature- and pressure-controlled reactor using pulsed laser photolysis-laser-induced fluorescence (PLP-LIF). Time-resolved pseudo-first order OH decays, generated by photolyzing H2O2, HNO3, or (CH3)3COOH at 248 nm, were measured using LIF in EtO/N2 mixtures at total pressures of 67 and 267 hPa. The observed rate coefficient, k1(296 K) = (1.09 ± 0.10) × 10-13 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, is approximately 25% faster than the current recommended value. These results are compared with previous room-temperature studies, and atmospheric lifetimes of EtO with respect to OH are discussed.
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