Experimental and Theoretical Investgations of the Gas Phase Reaction of the OH Radical with 1-PROPANOL

1-Propanol is a common volatile organic compound that is used as a solvent in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Once emitted into the atmosphere, the primary removal pathway of 1-propanol is reaction with the OH radical. As a result, an accurate knowledge of the kinetics and mechanism of the OH + 1-propanol reaction as a function of temperature is needed in order to fully assess the impact of emissions of this compound into the atmosphere. This study reports absolute measurements of the rate constant for the reaction of 1-propanol as a function of temperature using the discharge flow tube technique coupled with laser-induced fluorescence detection of OH radicals. Measurements of the rate constants for the reaction of OH with various deuterated isotopomers of 1-propanol were also done in order to gain insight into the reaction mechanism. Ab-initio theoretical calculations will be presented that examines the potential energy surface of the various reaction paths for this reaction.