Kinetic study of the reactions of the hydroxyl radical with ethane and propane

Absolute rate coefficients for the reactions of the hydroxyl radical with ethane (k₁, 297–300 K) and propane (k₂, 297–690 K) were measured using the flash photolysis–resonance fluorescence technique. The rate coefficient data were fit by the following temperature-dependent expressions, in units of cm³/molecule·s: k₁(T) = 1.43 × 10^?14T^1.05 exp (?911/T) and k₂(T) = 1.59 × 10^?15T^1.40 exp (-428/T). Semiquantitative separation of OH-propane reactivity into primary and secondary H-atom abstraction channels was obtained.