Production of Hydrogen in the Radiolysis of Methanol Vapour

Abstract

DURING an investigation of the radiolysis of methanol vapour Baxendale and Sedgwick¹ quantitatively accounted for all product yields in terms of those initial ionization processes observed in the mass spectrometer², where the important reactions have been shown to be: The furher assumed that as a result of reactions such as: and: the only important neutralization process is: The foregoing ion-molecule reactions have been observed in the mass spectrometer by Lindholm³. The species e⁻, H and CH₃OH₂+ can therefore be considered the probable precursors of hydrogen. It was further suggested that the methanol molecule formed in reaction (6) is in an excited state and dissociates to molecular hydrogen and formaldehyde.