YIELDS OF PRIMARY REDUCING SPECIES IN RADIOLYSIS OF LIQUID ETHANOL

The effects of high temperature, acid, and nitrous oxide on the radiolysis of liquid ethanol have been studied. The results indicate that at all temperatures, reaction between added hydrogen chloride and the ethanol takes place, and the resulting ethyl chloride seriously complicates the study of acid effects. In the light of the new results and better understanding of the effects of acid, previously published values of G(N2) from ethanolic nitrous oxide solutions have been reinterpreted in terms of the nonhomogeneous kinetics model. The new interpretation gives G(H) = 2.2, G(esolv-)fi = 1.5, and G(geminate neutralization) = 2.5. The unknown hydrogen precursors X and Y with yields G(X) = 0.8 and G(Y) = 1.1 were again found (cf. J. C. Russell and G. R. Freeman, J. Phys. Chem., 71, 755 (1967)).