A kinetic study of the reactions of vanadium, iron, and cobalt with sulfur dioxide

A kinetic study of the reactions of ground state V, Fe, and Co with SO2 is reported. V, Fe, and Co were produced by the 248 nm photodissociation of VCl4, ferrocene, and Co(C5H5)(CO)2, respectively, and were detected by laser-induced fluorescence. V + SO2 proceeds by an abstraction reaction with rate constants given by k=(2.33 +/- 0.57)x 10(-10) exp-(1.14 +/- 0.19) kcal mol(-1)/RT] cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) over the temperature range 296-571 K. Fe + SO2 was studied in the N2 buffer range of 10-185 Torr between 294 and 498 K. The limiting, low-pressure third-order rate constants are given by k(0)=(3.45 +/- 1.19)x 10(-30) exp-(2.81 +/- 0.24) kcal mol(-1)/RT] cm6 molecule(-2) s(-1). Co + SO2 was studied in the CO2 buffer range of 5-40 Torr between 294 and 498 K. This reaction is independent of temperature over the indicated range and has a third-order rate constant of k0=(5.23 +/- 0.28)x 10(-31) cm6 molecule(-2) s(-1). Results of this work are compared to previous work on the Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, and Ni + SO2 systems. The reaction efficiencies for the abstraction reactions depend on the ionization energies of the transition metal atoms and on the reaction exothermicities, and the reaction efficiencies of the association reactions are strongly dependent on the energies needed to promote an electron from a 4s2 configuration to a 4s1 configuration.