Kinetics Investigation of Reaction of Naphthalene with OH Radicals at 1–3 Torr and 240–340 K

The combination of relative rate method with discharge flow and mass spectrometry (RR/DF/MS) technique was employed to determine the rate constant for the gas‐phase reaction of hydroxyl radicals (OH) with naphthalene at 240?340 K and a total pressure of 1–3 Torr. At 298 K, the rate constant was measured to be cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1, which is in good agreement with reported literature values determined using different techniques. The reaction of OH with naphthalene was found to be essentially independent of pressure in a range of 1?3 Torr at both 298 and 340 K. At 240–340 K, the rate constant of this reaction was found to be negatively dependent on temperature, with an Arrhenius expression of k₁(T) cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 and k₁(T) cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 using 1,4‐dioxane and styrene as the reference compounds, respectively. The atmospheric lifetime of naphthalene was estimated to be 9.6 h using the rate constant of naphthalene + OH determined at 277 K in the present work.