Photolysis of Acetone at 193.3 nm

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j100328a024

The photodecomposition of acetone by single-pulse excimer laser photolysis at 193 nm has been studied by using end product analysis and time-resolved absorption spectroscopy at 300 and 600 K and as a function of helium pressure.Ethane is the dominant product and the channel producing 2CH3 + CO accounts for about 95percent of the overall photolysis.It is suggested that the next most important channels produce H + CH2COCH3 (ca. 3percent) and CH4 + CH2CO (a ca. 1-ms time scale, demonstrating that their yield is <1percent of that of the methyl radical.The ethylene yield increases nonlinearly with laser energy, an observation attributed to secondary photolysis of vibrationally excited methyl radicals to yield CH2 + H.The experiments demonstrate that 193-nm laser photolysis is a clean source of methyl radicals.