Abstract
CONNECTIONS between polar ozone depletion and halocarbon chemistry have been established by a number of studies1–10. Recent attempts to account quantitatively for the observed rate of ozone decline in Antarctica in terms of known photochemical processes have not been entirely successful, and it seems that further chemical ozone-depleting mechanisms may be needed, particularly if the transport of ozone into the polar regions competes with chemical losses. Spectroscopic and photochemical data indicate that photolysis of OCIO may provide a further ozone loss mechanism that has not previously been considered. Here we report laboratory studies of OCIO spectroscopy and photoproducts which suggest that atomic Cl and O2 are formed to some extent in the photodis-sociation process. This evidence points towards possible photo-isomerization to the unstable species ClOO, (or at least to a similar metastable intermediate) probably by way of the 2B2 excited state of OClO, thus reinforcing the idea that photolysis of OC1O may contribute to polar ozone depletion.
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Vaida, V., Solomon, S., Richard, E. et al. Photoisomerization of OCIO: a possible mechanism for polar ozone depletion. Nature 342, 405–408 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/342405a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/342405a0
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