Chemistry of PO-, PO2-, and PO3- in the gas phase

Rate constants have been measured for reactions of the small oxyphosphorus anions PO-, PO2-, and PO3- with a selection of reactant neutrals at 300 K using a selected ion flow tube instrument. The PO- anion was the most reactive, abstracting an oxygen atom from O2, NO, CO2, and NO2 with rates below collisional. Of the neutrals studied, only NO2 transferred an O atom to PO2-, demonstrating that NO2 can provide a route from PO- to PO3- through PO2-. PO2- was found to react with WF6 through fast charge transfer, and with H2O by slow clustering. The only observed reaction found for the highly stable PO3- anion was slow clustering with H2O.