Kinetics of the reactions of the hydroxyl radical with dimethyl ether and diethyl ether

Absolute rate coefficients for the reactions of the hydroxyl radical with dimethyl ether ( k 1 ) and diethyl ether ( k 2 ) were measured over the temperature range 295–442 K. The rate coefficient data, in the units cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 , were fitted to the Arrhenius equations k 1 ( T ) = (1.04 ± 0.10) × 10 −11 exp[−(739 ± 67 cal mol −1 )/ RT ] and k 2 ( T ) = (9.13 ± 0.35) × 10 −12 exp[+(228 ± 27 kcal mol −1 )/ RT ], respectively, in which the stated error limits are 2σ values. Our results are compared with those of previous studies of hydrogen‐atom abstraction from saturated hydrocarbons by OH. Correlations between measured reaction‐rate coefficients and CH bond‐dissociation energies are discussed.