193.3-nm photodissociation dynamics of jet-cooled 1-propanol and 2-propanol and their partially deuterated variants are examined by using the high-n Rydberg-atom time-of-flight technique. Isotope labeling studies show that O-H bond fission is the primary H-atom production channel in the ultraviolet photodissociation of both 1-propanol and 2-propanol. Center-of-mass (c.m.) product translational energy release of the RO-H dissociation channel is large, with =0.78 for H+1-propoxy (n-propoxy) and 0.79 for H+2-propoxy (isoproxy). Maximum c.m. translational energy release yields an upper limit of the O-H bond dissociation energy: 433+/-2 kJ/mol in 1-propanol and 435+/-2 kJ/mol in 2-propanol. H-atom product angular distribution is anisotropic (with betaapproximate to-0.79 for 1-propanol and -0.77 for 2-propanol), suggesting an electronic transition moment perpendicular to the H-O-C plane and a short excited-state dissociation lifetime (less than a rotational period). Information about photodissociation dynamics and bond energies of the partially deuterated propanols are also obtained. The 193.3-nm photodissociation dynamics of 1-propanol and 2-propanol are nearly identical to each other and are similar to those of methanol and ethanol. This indicates a common RO-H dissociation mechanism: after the n(O)-->sigma(*)(O-H)/3s excitation localized on the H-O-C moiety, the H atom is ejected promptly in the H-O-C plane in a time scale shorter than a rotational period of the parent molecule, and it dissociates along the O-H coordinate on the repulsive excited-state potential-energy surface with a large translational energy release. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.