A high-pressure gas phase study of the ${\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}$-${\mathrm{C}}_2$${\mathrm{Cl}}_4$ ion-molecule system has been made to determine relative rates of charge transfer and ion-molecule reaction. This study was initiated to investigate assumptions made concerning the collection of ${}_{}{}^{37}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ar}_{}^{+}{}_{}{}^{}$ produced by the reaction ${}_{}{}^{37}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Cl}(\nu ,e^{-}){}_{}{}^{37}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ar}$ in the Brookhaven solar neutrino experiment. Charge transfer was found to proceed at high pressures in the gas with a rate more than two orders of magnitude greater than other possible ${\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}$-${\mathrm{C}}_2$${\mathrm{Cl}}_4$ ion-molecule reactions. These results support the argument that ${\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}$ is not converted into stable charged species which might be missed with techniques used in the solar neutrino experiment.

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