An Investigation of the Reaction of CH3 Radicals with O2 at High Temperatures

The reaction of CH3 radicals with O2 was investigated behind incident shock waves at temperatures between 1400 and 2300 K and total densities between 2 · 10−6 and 8 · 10−6 mol/cm3. The formation of O and H atoms was followed by atomic resonance absorption spectroscopy (ARAS) at 130.5 nm and 121.6 nm. A rate constant of 2.3 · 1013 exp(–15400 K/T) cm3/mol s for the reaction CH3 O2 + CH3O + O was determined.