LASER-INDUCED DECOMPOSITIONS OF 3,5-DIMETHYL-1,2,4-TRIOXOLANE (SECONDARY BUTENE-2-OZONIDE) IN THE GAS-PHASE

UV (ArF and N-2) laser photolysis and IR laser photosensitized (SF6) d ecomposition of gaseous secondary butene-2-ozonide (SBOZ) are shown to follow different reaction courses. ArF laser (193 MI) photolysis of S BOZ affords CO2, CH3OH, CH3CHO, CH4, HCOOH, CH2=C=O and C-1-C-4 hydroc arbons, while N-2 laser (337 nm) photolysis of SBOZ is a much slower p rocess than SBOZ oligomerization occurring on the reactor walls, The m ultiple of the ArF laser induced photolytic products is in line with a complex reaction scheme involving initial O-O and 2,3 C-O bond splits of 1,2,4-trioxolane ring, Continuous-wave CO2 laser photosensitized S BOZ decomposition affords CH3CHO and CH3COOH together with 1-hydroxyle thyl acetate and 1-methoxyethyl formate, the products of rearrangement observed earlier in a pulsed CO2 laser SF6 photosensitized decomposit ion reported by us in a previous paper.