Thermal Decomposition of 1,1,1-Trifluoroethane Revisited

1,1,1-Trifluoroethane (CH3CF3) has been frequently used as a chemical thermometer or an internal standard in shock tube studies to determine relative rates of chemical reactions. The rate constants for the thermal decomposition of CH3CF3 were recently reported to have anomalous pressure dependence in the high-temperature falloff region. In the present study, the kinetics of the CH3CF3 decomposition were reinvestigated using shock tube/laser absorption (ST/LA) spectroscopy and single-pulse shock tube (SPST) methods over the temperature range 1163-1831 K at pressures from 95 to 290 kPa. The present rate constants are 2-3 times smaller than those reported in previous single-pulse experiments performed at near high-pressure limit conditions. The recommended rate constant expression, k = 5.71 x 10(46)T(-9.341) exp(-47073 K/T) s(-1), was obtained over the temperature range 1000-1600 K with uncertainties of +/-40% at temperatures below 1300 K and +/-32% at 1600 K. The rate constants at the high-temperature region showed clear falloff behavior and were in good agreement with recent high-temperature experiments. The falloff rate constants could not be reproduced by a standard RRKM/master-equation model; this study provides additional evidence for the unusual pressure dependence previously reported for this reaction. Additionally, the rate constants for the decomposition of 1,1-difluoroethylene (CH2CF2) were determined over the temperature range 1650-2059 K at pressures of 100 and 205 kPa, and were reproduced by the RRKM/master-equation calculation with an average downward energy transfer of 900 cm(-1).