Reactions of photogenerated fluorine atoms with dopant molecules in solid argon

The products of UV photolysis of ternary Ar?CH₄(CD₄)?F₂ mixtures (1:c:c ₀,c, c ₀=0.001–0.01) at 13–16 K were identified by ESR and FTIR spectroscopy. These products are^?CH₃ (^?CD₃) radicals of typesI andII and molecular CH₃F?HF complexes. The latter were characterized by the IR bands of the stretching C?F (1003 cm^?1) and H?F (3774 cm^?1) vibrations. The ESR spectra of radicalsI are asymmetric. The anisotropy of theg-factor (Δg～10^?3) of radicalI indicates that the structure of the radicals is nonplanar. The ESR spectrum of the typeII radical is identical to that of matrix-isolated^?CH₃ (^?CD₃) radicals with the planar structure (Δg<5·10^?5). Under the experimental conditions, the amount of complexes formed in the photolysis is equal to 0.022·c. When the photolysis is ceased, radicalI disappears after ≈10³ s and radicalII is stabilized. The limiting concentrations of the stabilized^?CH₃ and^?CD₃ radicals are equal to 2·10^?2·c and 2·10^?3·c, respectively. A mechanism of the formation of the products is suggested. It is based on the assumption that both matrix-isolated CH₄ and F₂ and their heterodimers CH₄?F₂ are present in the samples and it takes into account the long-range migration of translationally excited flourine atoms. The CH₃F?HF complexes and radicalsI are generated by the photolysis of the CH₄?F₂ heterodimers. The decay of radicalsI is caused by geminate recombination of proximate F...CH₃ pairs. RadicalsII are formed in the reaction of translationally excited fluorine atoms with isolated CH₄ (CD₄) molecules.