PH2 internal energy distribution produced by the 193 nm photodissociation of PH3

Experimental results involving 193 nm PH3 photodissociation are reported. Detection of the PH2 fragment using laser induced fluorescence suggests that PH2 is formed with appreciable internal excitation, but no quantitative results concerning nascent PH2 could be obtained using this direct method. In related kinetics studies, the reaction of thermalized (300 K) PH2 with O2 yields a rate coefficient of 2.7×10−13 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, while PH2+NO is rather unreactive (k