Energy transfer kinetics of singlet molecular oxygen: the deactivation channel for O2(b 1Σg+)

A tunable alexandrite laser was used to produce O2(b 1∑+g) in the gas phase, with quantitative measurement of O2(b 1∑+g) and O2(a 1Δg) densities achieved by detection of the b→X fluorescence and dimol emission signals, respectively. A simple kinetics analysis indicates that collisional deactivation of O2(b 1∑+g) by ground state oxygen molecules occurs with unit production of O2(a 1Δg). These results are in accord with previous assumptions regarding collisional deactivation of O2(b 1∑+b) based on spin conservation.