Kinetic isotope effects and rate constants for the gas‐phase reactions of three deuterated toluenes with OH from 298 to 353 K

The rate constants for the gas‐phase reactions of three deuterated toluenes with hydroxyl radicals were measured using the relative rate technique over the temperature range 298–353 K at about 1 atm total pressure. The OH radicals were generated by photolysis of H₂O₂, and helium was used as the diluent gas. The disappearance of reactants was followed by online mass spectrometry, which resulted in high time resolution, allowing for a large amount of data to be collected and used in the determination of the Arrhenius parameters. The following Arrhenius expressions have been determined for these reactions (in units of cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1): k=(6.42_?0.99^+1.17)×10^?13exp [(661±54)/T] for toluene‐d₃, k=(2.11_?0.69^+1.03)×10^?12exp [(287±128)/T]for toluene‐d₅, and k=(1.40^+0.44_?0.33)×10^?12exp [(404±88)/T]for toluene‐d₈. The kinetic isotope effects (KIEs, k_H/k_D) of these reactions were 1.003 ± 0.042 for all three compounds at 298 K. The KIE for toluene‐d₃ was temperature dependent; at 350 K, its KIE was 1.122^+0.048_?0.046. The KIE of toluene‐d₅ and toluene‐d₈ did not vary significantly with temperature. These KIE results suggest that methyl H‐atom abstraction is more important than aromatic OH addition at higher temperatures. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 44: 821–827, 2012