Depletion kinetics of the ground state CrO generated from the reaction of unsaturated Cr(CO)(x) with O-2 and N2O

Abstract

Unsaturated Cr(CO)(x)(l less than or equal to x less than or equal to 5) molecules were generated in the gas phase from photolysis of Cr(CO)(6) vapor in He using an unfocussed weak UV laser pulse and their reactions with O-2 and N2O have been studied. The formation and disappearance of the ground state CrO molecules were identified by monitoring laser-induced fluorescence(LIF) intensities vs delay time between the photolysis and probe pulses. The photolysis laser power dependence as well as the delay time dependence of LIF intensities from the CrO orange system showed different behavior as those from ground state Cr atoms, suggesting that the ground state CrO molecules were generated from the reaction between O-2/N2O and photo- fragments of Cr(CO)6 by one photon absorption. The depletion rate constants for the ground state CrO by O-2 and N2O are 5.4 +/- 0.2 x 10(-11) and 6.5 +/- 0.4 x 10(-12) cm(3)molecule(-1)s(-1), respectively.