The Hydroperoxyl Radical in Atmospheric Chemical Dynamics: Reaction with Carbon Monoxide

Abstract

From measurements of the photochemical rate of production of CO₂^16,18 and CO₂^16,16, produced from the low intensity photolysis of mixtures of CO, H₂O, Ar, and O₂^18,18, the rate constant for the reaction HO₂ + CO → CO₂ + OH has been determined at 300°K to be less than or equal to 10^-20 cubic centimeter per molecule per second. These measurements indicate that the reaction of thermalized HO₂ is of negligible importance as a sink mechanism for converting CO to CO₂ in either the troposphere or the stratosphere.