THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION OF CF3I USING I-ATOM ABSORPTION

I-atom atomic resonance absorption spectrometry (ARAS) has been develo ped and applied to measure the thermal decomposition rate constant for CF3I (+ M) --> CF3 + I (+ M). The I-atom curve-of-growth (lambda = 18 3 nm.) was determined using this reaction, and, for [I] less than or e qual to 3 X 10(12) molecules cm(-3), (ABS) = 1.9215 X 10(-13) [I], yie lding (sigma = 1.933 X 10(-14) cm(2). Measured rate constants an be ex pressed by k(1) = 3.24 x 10(-9) exp(-17286 K/T) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(- 1) (+/- 56%, 1033 less than or equal to T less than or equal to 1285 K ). RRKM theory has been applied to rationalize this result.