We have examined the photochemical reactions occurring after irradiation at 200 nm of theaqueous nitrate ion, NO
3-(aq). Using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy over the range 194-388 nm, we have characterized the formation and subsequent relaxation of the primary photoproducts ofnitrate photolysis. The dominant photoproduct is the
cis-isomer of peroxynitrite, which accounts for 48% ofthe excited state molecules initially produced. A slightly smaller fraction, 44%, of the excited moleculesreturn to the electronic ground state of NO
3- and relax to the vibrational ground state in 2 ps. The remaining8% of the molecules initially excited react via the
![](/images/entities/bull.gif)
NO +
![](/images/entities/bull.gif)
O
2- or the NO
- + O
2 dissociation channels.Formation of NO
2- and
![](/images/entities/bull.gif)
NO
2 is not observed, suggesting that the previous observations of these speciesin steady-state photolysis are caused by reactions occurring on a longer time scale.