Aldehyde autoxidation, termination

Table III. Termination rate constants for aldehyde autoxidation ...

The autoxidation of aldehydes, and of other organic compounds, may be lessened considerably by very careful purification—removal of existing peroxides, trace metal ions, etc.—but much more readily and effectively by the addition of suitable radical inhibitors, referred to in this context as anti-oxidants. The best of these are phenols and aromatic amines which have a readily abstractable H atom, the resultant radical is of relatively low reactivity, being able to act as a good chain terminator (by reaction with another radical) but only as a poor initiator (by reaction with a new substrate molecule). 

The reaction rate is half-order in palladium and dimeric hydroxides of the type shown are very common for palladium. The reaction is first order in alcohol and a kinetic isotope effect was found for CH2 versus CD2 containing alcohols at 100 °C (1.4-2.1) showing that probably the (3-hydride elimination is rate-determining. Thus, fast pre-equilibria are involved with the dimer as the resting state. When terminal alkenes are present, Wacker oxidation of the alkene is the fastest reaction. Aldehydes are prone to autoxidation and it was found that radical scavengers such as TEMPO suppressed the side reactions and led to an increase of the selectivity [18],... 

The ready formation of benzylic hydroperoxides is used in industrial oxidations, as in the synthesis of propylene oxide and phenol (see Sections 9.5.2 and 9.5.4, respectively). In contrast with autoxidation of alkenes, where various secondary processes may follow, autoxidation of arenes is less complicated. Chain termination of 99 may lead to an alcohol and aldehyde [Eq. (9.151)], and the rapid autoxidation of the latter may produce the corresponding carboxylic acid [Eq. (9.152)] ... 

Air, the cheapest oxidant, is used only rarely without irradiation and without catalysts. Examples of oxidations by air alone are the conversion of aldehydes into carboxylic acids (autoxidation) and the oxidation of acyl-oins to a-diketones. Usually, exposure to light, irradiation with ultraviolet light, or catalysts are needed. Under such circumstances, dehydrogenative coupling in benzylic positions takes place at very mild conditions [7]. In the presence of catalysts, terminal acetylenes are coupled to give diacetylenes [2], and anthracene is oxidized to anthraquinone [3]. Alcohols are converted into aldehydes or ketones with limited amounts of air [4, 5, 6, 7], Air oxidizes esters to keto esters [3], thiols to disulfides [9], and sulfoxides to sulfones [10. In the presence of mercuric bromide and under irradiation, methylene groups in allylic and benzylic positions are oxidized to carbonyls [11]. 

The ozone concentration in the troposphere during the daytime is typically about 1 pphm (parts per hundred million parts of air by volume) [20], Values up to 100 pphm were measured in some photochemical smog areas. The molecular mechanism of the ozone aging of diene based elastomers was studied in detail and is well understood [19,21], Products or intermediates different from those arising in autoxidation or photo-oxidation of polymers were identified ozonides (3), zwitterions (4), diperoxides (5), polyperoxides (6), polymeric ozonides (7) and terminal aldehydes (8). Reactivity of aminic antiozonants (AOZ) with these species accounts for the protection of rubbers against atmospheric 03. AOZ must also possess antioxidant properties, because the free radical processes are concerted with ozonation due to the permanent presence of oxygen. 

Lipid autoxidation is generally believed to involve a free- radical chain mechanism (1) initiation steps that lead to free radicals (R ), (2) propagation of the free radicals (R -I-O2 —> ROO, ROO -1-RH — ROOH-I-R ), and (3) termination steps R -H R R—R, R- ROO- ROOR, ROO ROO O 2 ROOR (or alcohol and carbonyl compound). The oxidation of lipids results in peroxides as primary oxidation products, which in turn degrade further to secondary oxidation products, including aldehydes, ketones, epoxides, hydroxy compounds, carboxylic acids, oligomers, and polymers. 

Termination rate constants for autoxidation of some aldehydes (U2) are given in Table III. The value for acetaldehyde must be a composite one containing contributions from 2k2 3 and 2k2i. If reactions (22), (23), and 2k) apply to the other aldehydes all the rate constants in this table will be composite ones. 

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