Reaction of atomic oxygen with cyclopentadiene

The reaction of 1,3-cyclopentadiene (CPD) with ground-state atomic oxygen O(³P), produced by mercury photosensitized decomposition of nitrous oxide, was studied. The identified products were carbon monoxide and the following C₄H₆ isomers: 3-methylcyclopropene, 1,3-butadiene, 1,2-butadiene, and 1-butyne. The yield of carbon monoxide over oxygen atoms produced (?_CO) was equal to the sum of the yields of C₄H₆ isomers in any experiment. ?_CO was 0.43 at the total pressure of 6.5 torr and 0.20 at 500 torr. We did not succeed in detecting any addition products such as C₅H₆O isomers. It was found that 3-methylcyclopropene was produced with excess energy and was partly isomerized to other C₄H₆ isomers, especially to 1-butyne. The excess energy was estimated to be about 50 kcal/mol. The rate coefficient of the reaction was obtained relative to those for the reactions of atomic oxygen with trans-2-butene and 1-butene. The ratios k_CPD+O/k_{trans-2-butene+O}= 2.34 and k_CPD+O/k_1-butene+O = 11.3 were obtained. Probable reaction mechanisms and intermediates are suggested.