Collisional Dissociation of Crieege CH 3 CHOO and Methane Intermediates in the Earth’s Upper Atmosphere

The increase in the concentration of methane in the atmosphere as a result of anthropogenic activity, melting of permafrost, and decomposition of gas hydrates on the seabed has attracted close attention of the scientific community in recent decades due to the potentially dangerous effect of methane on the ozone layer and the Earth’s climate. According to various estimates, the greenhouse effect from methane is dozens of times stronger than the similar effect from carbon dioxide; therefore, the processes of methane transfer to the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as its lifetime and interaction with other substances present in the stratosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere are of great scientific interest. In this study, we consider the chemical reactions occurring during collisions of methane molecules with methyl carbonyl oxide CH 3 CHOO in the upper atmosphere. It is shown that this process initiates the formation of the OH radical and starts a cascade of chemical reactions, the products of which are CH 3 , atomic hydrogen, acetone, acetaldehyde, propaldehyde, methyl alcohol, and water. These compounds are able to actively influence the composition of the atmosphere and its physicochemical properties.