A spectroscopic study of the thermal decomposition of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

The thermal decomposition of pure samples of PAN has been monitored at ambient temperature (295 ± 2 K) and pressures of 0.5 torr, in a large 6 m cell equipped with White-type multi-pass optics. The minor thermal decomposition products, NO2, HONO and HCHO observed by UV/Vis spectroscopic techniques, are consistent with a decomposition mechanism that proceeds via the equilibrium between PAN, peroxyacetyl radical and nitrogen oxide.