Kinetics and mechanism of HO2 and DO2 disproportionations
A flash photolysis/UV abosrption technique was used to study the HO2 + HO2 and DO2 + DO2 reactions in the gas phase. Rate constants were measured at pressures between 100 and 700 torr of Ar and N2, and at temperatures between 230 and 420 K with up to 10 torr of added water vapor. The overall disproportionation rate constants for the reaction is given as the sum of pressure-independent and pressure-dependent terms. A kinetic analysis shows that both reactions have a zero-pressure bimolecular component and a termolecular component which is linearly dependent on pressure up to 700 torr. A priori estimates of the vibrational frequencies of the product of the HO2 + HO2 reaction suggest binding energies of 12-20 kcal per mol (for the initial association).