The overall rate constant for the reaction
tert-butanol +
OH → products was determined experimentally behind reflected
shock waves by using (18)O-substituted
tert-butanol (tert-butan(18)ol) and
tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as a fast source of (16)
OH. The data were acquired from 900 to 1200 K near 1.1 atm and are best fit by the Arrhenius expression 1.24 × 10(-10) exp(-2501/T [K]) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). The products of the title reaction include the tert-C4H8OH radical that is known to have two major β-scission decomposition channels, one of which produces
OH radicals. Experiments with the isotopically labeled tert-butan(18)ol also lead to an experimental determination of the branching ratio for the β-scission pathways of the tert-C4H8OH radical by comparing the measured pseudo-first-order decay rate of (16)
OH in the presence of excess tert-butan(16)ol with the respective decay rate of (16)
OH in the presence of excess tert-butan(18)ol. The two decay rates of (16)
OH as a result of reactions with the two forms of
tert-butanol differ by approximately
a factor of 5 due to the absence of (16)OH-producing pathways in experiments with tert-butan(18)ol. This indicates that 80% of the (16)
OH molecules that react with tert-butan(16)ol will reproduce another (16)
OH molecule through β-scission of the resulting tert-C4H8(16)OH radical. (16)
OH mole fraction time histories were measured using narrow-line-width
laser absorption near 307 nm. Measurements were performed at the line center of the R22(5.5) transition in the A-X(0,0) band of (16)
OH, a transition that does not overlap with any absorption features of (18)
OH, hence yielding a measurement of (16)
OH mole fraction that is insensitive to any production of (18)
OH.