Effects of ring strain on gas‐phase rate constants. 2. OH radical reactions with cycloalkenes

Relative rate constants for the gas‐phase reactions of OH radicals with a series of cycloalkenes have been determined at 298 ± 2 K using methyl nitrite photolysis in air as a source of OH radicals. Using a rate constant for the reaction of OH radicals with isoprene of 9.60 × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, the rate constants obtained were (X 1011 cm3 molecule−1 s−1): cyclopentene 6.39 ± 0.23, cyclohexene 6.43 ± 0.17, cycloheptene 7.08 ± 0.22, 1,3‐cyclohexadiene 15.6 ± 0.5, 1,4 cyclohexadiene 9.48 ± 0.39, bicyclo[2.2.1]‐2‐heptene 4.68 ± 0.39, bicyclo[2.2.1] 2,5 heptadiene 11.4 ± 1.0, and bicyclo[2.2.2] 2 octene 3.88 ± 0.19. These data show that the rate constants for the nonconjugated cycloalkenes studied depend on the number of double bonds and the degree of substitution per double bond, and indicate that there are no obvious effects of ring strain energy on these OH radical addition rate constants. A predictive technique for the estimation of OH radical rate constants for alkenes and cycloalkenes is presented and discussed.