Depletion Kinetics of the Ground State CrO Generated from the Reaction of Unsaturated Cr(CO)_x with O₂ and N₂O

Unsaturated $Cr(CO)_x(1{\leq}x{\leq}5)$molecules were generated in the gas phase from photolysis of $Cr(CO)_6$vapor in He using an unfocussed weak UV laser pulse and their reactions with $O_2$ and $N_2O$ have been studied. The formation and disappearance of the ground state CrO molecules were identified by monitoring laser-induced fluorescence(LIF) intensities vs delay time between the photolysis and probe pulses. The photolysis laser power dependence as well as the delay time dependence of LIF intensities from the CrO orange system showed different behavior as those from ground state Cr atoms, suggesting that the ground state CrO molecules were generated from the reaction between $O_2/N_2O$ and photo-fragments of $Cr(CO)_6$ by one photon absorption. The depletion rate constants for the ground state CrO by $O_2$ and $N_2O$ are $5.4{\pm}0.2{\times}10^{-11}$ and $6.5{\pm}0.4{\times}10^{-12}cm^3molecule^{-1}s^{-1}$, respectively.