The Photolysis of Ketene in the Presence of Hydrogen

The photolysis of ketene in the presence of hydrogen has been investigated in the temperature range −40° to 207 °C. The main products are CO, C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , and CH 4 , with some methyl ethyl ketone at the higher temperatures. Hydrogen and ketene compete for CH 2 radicals by the reactions[Formula: see text]with E 3 − E 2 = 0.8 kcal. At the higher temperatures the reaction[Formula: see text]leads to a chain reaction via[Formula: see text]The value of E 6 is found to be 10.2 ± 0.5 kcal. in good agreement with previous work.