Visible Chemiluminescence from the Reaction of F（²P） with CH₃OH

Visible chemiluminescence in the region of 300～900nm was measured from the reaction of F（²P） atoms with CH₃OH at various pressures using crossed molecular beam apparatus. The emission of HF⁺（v′=3→v′=0） overtone transition was only observed under low pressure condition. As the pressure increased, long progressive bands of CH₂O（a³A₂→X¹A₁） were observed besides HF（3,0）. It is the first observation of CH₂O（a³A₂→X¹A₁） emission. The spectrum constants of C-O stretch mode （v₂） were obtained:ω_e=1762.5cm^-1,ω_eχ_e=9.4cm^-1,ω₂=1743.6cm^-1
The reaction mechanism was discussed, it is proposed that the out of plane molecule CH₂O（a³A₂） was produced as two H atoms were abstracted from the molecule CH₃OH.