The photoassisted catalytic degradation of chloroethylene was studied in a tubular photoreactor packed with TiO 2 pellets prepared by a sol-gel method. The experiments were performed in a noncirculating mode. Kinetic data and the reaction products were compared with those for the photodegradation of ethylene, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene. The theoretical calculations at the MP4/6-31G**//B3LYP/6-31G** level indicated that the addition of OH radicals to chlorinated ethylenes is more exothermic than that of Cl radicals by 14.6-29.5 kcal mol -1 . Examination of Cl mass balance indicated that the concentration of Clcollected from the TiO 2 surface was higher than that from the product gas stream. When the photodegradation of ethylene was performed on the TiO 2 pellets which had been used for that of TCE or which were pretreated with HCl, the formation of chloroacetaldehyde was confirmed by the GC/MS. We proposed that during the photodegradation of the chlorinated ethylenes, the Cl -, as one of the reaction products, accumulated and was oxidized to Cl radical on the TiO 2 surface, which might be due to the oxidation by OH radical. Then, the Cl radical reacted with chlorinated ethylenes, leading to the formation of undesirable chlorinated byproducts.