Mechanism of the radiation-induced transformations of fluoroform in solid noble gas matrixes

The X-ray induced transformations in the CHF3/Ng systems (Ng=Ne, Ar, Kr or Xe) at 6 K were studied by FTIR spectroscopy. The radiation-induced decomposition of CHF3 was found to be rather inefficient in solid xenon with low ionization energy, which suggests primary significance of the positive hole transfer from matrix to the fluoroform molecule. CF3
- , :CF2, CHF2
- and CF4 were identified as the products of low-temperature radiolysis in all the noble gas matrixes. In addition, the anionic complex HF⋯CF2− was detected in Ne and Ar matrixes. The radiolysis also resulted in formation of noble gas compounds (HArF in argon, HKrF in krypton, and XeF2 in xenon). While XeF2 and HArF were essentially formed directly after irradiation (presumably due to reactions of 'hot' fluorine atoms), HKrF mainly resulted from annealing of irradiated samples below 20 K due to thermally induced mobility of trapped fluorine atoms. In both krypton and xenon matrixes, the thermally induced reactions of F atoms occur at lower temperatures than those of H atoms, while the opposite situation is observed in argon. The mechanisms of the radiation-induced processes and their implications are discussed.