HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF THE OXIDATION OF WHITE PHOSPHORUS

The IR absorption spectra of the transient molecules PO, PO2 and P2O h ave been recorded at Doppler-limited resolution, using the O + P-4 cha in reaction to generate them directly in a long-path flow cell. It was necessary to control the mixing conditions and the relative reactant concentrations carefully to observe these spectra, particularly the pr oportion of oxygen, since the spectrum of each oxide optimised under d istinctly different conditions. While gas-phase spectra have previousl y been reported for PO and PO2 the present work is the first to report spectroscopic detection of P2O in the gas phase. A series of nearly e qually spaced lines has been assigned to the P-O stretching mode of th is transient molecule and supports the linear, non-symmetric structure (P-P-O) predicted theoretically.