Kinetics of the reaction Cl + CH4 → CH3+ HCl from 200° to 500deg;K

The rate constant for the reaction \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}${\rm Cl} + {\rm CH}_4 \mathop {\longrightarrow}\limits^1 {\rm CH}_3 + {\rm HCl}$\end{document} has been determined over the temperature range of 200°–500°K using a discharge flow system with resonance fluorescence detection of atomic chlorine under conditions of large excess CH₄. For 300° > T > 200°K the data are best fitted to the expression k₁ = (8.2 ± 0.6) × 10^?12 exp?(1320 ± 20)/T] cm³/sec. Curvature is observed in the Arrhenius plot such that the effective activation energy increases from 2.6 kcal/mol at 200° < T < 300°K to 3.5 kcal/mol at 360° < T < 500°K. The data over the entire range may be fitted by the expression k₁ = 8.6×10^?18 T^2.11 exp?795/T]. These results are compared with other experimental studies and with a semiempirical transition state calculation. Their atmospheric significance is discussed.