Experimental and modeling study of the temperature and pressure dependence of the reaction C2H5 + O-2 (+ M) -> C2H5O2 (+ M).

The reaction C2H5 + O-2 (+ M) --> C2H5O2 (+ M) was studied at 298 K at pressures of the bath gas M = Ar between 100 and 1000 bar. The transition from the falloff curve of an energy transfer mechanism to a high pressure range with contributions from the radical complex mechanism was observed. Further experiments were done between 188 and 298 K in the bath gas M = He at pressures in the range 0.7-2.0 Torr. The available data are analyzed in terms of unimolecular rate theory. An improved analytical representation of the temperature and pressure dependence of the rate constant is given for conditions where the chemical activation process C2H5 + O-2 (+ M) --> C2H4 + HO2 (+ M) is only of minor importance