Reaction of Oxygen Atoms (³P) with Acetaldehyde

Abstract

THERE is some disagreement about the nature of the reaction of oxygen atoms with acetaldehyde. Cvetanović^1,2, using oxygen atoms from the mercury sensitized photolysis of nitrous oxide and from the photolysis of nitrogen dioxide, finds products consistent with the initial reaction (1) On the other hand, Avramenko and his co-workers, who have used oxygen atoms from the mercury sensitized photolysis and from an electrical discharge through molecular oxygen, maintain³ that several other reactions are important including the insertion reaction (2) Avery and Cvetanović² have criticized the findings of Avramenko on both theoretical and experimental grounds.