Isotopic Exchange of the Excited Oxygen Atoms with CO218 and Their Collisional Deactivation

Abstract

Isotopic exchange of the excited oxygen atoms produced by photolysis of N₂O at 1849 Å with CO₂¹⁸ has been studied at room temperature. The exchange is strongly suppressed by addition of xenon, and is not affected by SF₆. This provides further evidence for the effective deactivation of the electronically excited oxygen atoms by collisions with xenon atoms, and lack of deactivation on collisions with SF₆ molecules. Relative values of the rates of exchange and deactivation have been obtained as well as the relative rate of reaction of the excited atoms with N₂O.