THE CHEMILUMINESCENT REACTION OF ACTIVE NITROGEN WITH THALLOUS HALIDES

Abstract

Energy transfer from active nitrogen to gaseous thallous halides leads to dissociation of the halide molecules with simultaneous production of excited thallium atoms. Thallium emission lines have been observed to correspond to the transfer of up to 221 kcal/mole to the TlX molecule. The process is kinetically third order but the high overall efficiency of light emission and thallous halide destruction requires a mechanism which involves a bimolecular reaction of TlX with an excited N₂ formed during N-atom recombination.