Chain initiation mechanism

Chemical combustion is initiated by the oxidation or thermal decomposition of a fuel molecule, thereby producing reactive radical species by a chain-initiating mechanism. Radical initiation for a particular fuel/oxygen mixture can result from high-energy collisions with other molecules (M) in the system or from hydrogen-atom abstraction by 02or other radicals, as expressed in reactions 6.1-6.3 ... 

Even though there have been appreciably more studies of CS2, COS is known to exist as an intermediate in CS2 flames. Thus it appears logical to analyze the COS oxidation mechanism first. Both substances show explosion limit curves that indicate that branched-chain mechanisms exist. Most of the reaction studies used flash photolysis hence very little information exists on what the chain-initiating mechanism for thermal conditions would be. 

Many of the photochemical reactions reported are photooxidations. Photooxidation proceeds by a chain mechanism in which the generation of free radicals following photon absorption is the chain initiating mechanism. 

The two monomers enter into the copolymer in overall amounts determined by their relative concentrations and reactivities. The chain copolymerization may, however, be initiated by any of the chain initiation mechanisms, namely, free-radical chain initiations considered in the preceding chapter, or ionic chain initiations, which will be described in a later chapter. Chain copolymerizations involving more than two monomers are generally referred to as multicomponent copolymerizations. For systems of three monomers, the specific term terpolymerization is commonly used. 

In chain polymerization initiated by free radicals, as in the previous example, the reactive center, located at the growing end of the molecule, is a free radical. As mentioned previously, chain polymerizations may also be initiated by ionic systems. In such cases, the reactive center is ionic, i.e., a carbonium ion (in cationic initiation) or a carbanion (in anionic initiation). Regardless of the chain initiation mechanism—free radical, cationic, or anionic—once a reactive center is produced it adds many more molecules in a chain reaction and grows quite large extremely rapidly, usually within a few seconds or less. (However, the relative slowness of the initiation stage causes the overall rate of reaction to be slow and the conver-... 

Based on quantum chemical calculations, a bimolecular chain initiation mechanism was proposed between the ROOH primary product and cyclohexanone... 

Fig. 12 (a) Schematic diagram of the chain initiation mechanism on Co(OOOl). Values on the arrows refer to the individual barriers (in kJ mor ) for each elementary step. The preferred H-assisted CO dissociation path is the lighter colour. Reprinted from ref. 38 with permission from Elsevier (b) Energy profile of H-assisted CO dissociation pathways on the stepped Co(211) surface HCO pathway (darker) and COH pathway (lighter). Reproduced from ref. 33 by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry. 

An important application of photochemical initiation is in the determination of the rate constants which appear in the overall analysis of the chain-growth mechanism. Although we shall take up the details of this method in Sec. 6.6, it is worthwhile to develop Eq. (6.7) somewhat further at this point. It is not possible to give a detailed treatment of light absorption here. Instead, we summarize some pertinent relationships and refer the reader who desires more information to textbooks of physical or analytical chemistry. The following results will be useful ... 

Chain-Growth Associative Thickeners. Preparation of hydrophobically modified, water-soluble polymer in aqueous media by a chain-growth mechanism presents a unique challenge in that the hydrophobically modified monomers are surface active and form micelles (50). Although the initiation and propagation occurs primarily in the aqueous phase, when the propagating radical enters the micelle the hydrophobically modified monomers then polymerize in blocks. In addition, the hydrophobically modified monomer possesses a different reactivity ratio (42) than the unmodified monomer, and the composition of the polymer chain therefore varies considerably with conversion (57). The most extensively studied monomer of this class has been acrylamide, but there have been others such as the modification of PVAlc. Pyridine (58) was one of the first chain-growth polymers to be hydrophobically modified. This modification is a post-polymerization alkylation reaction and produces a random distribution of hydrophobic units. 

Suitable catalysts are /-butylphenylmethyl peracetate and phenylacetjdperoxide or redox catalyst systems consisting of an organic hydroperoxide and an oxidizable sulfoxy compound. One such redox initiator is cumene—hydroperoxide, sulfur dioxide, and a nucleophilic compound, such as water. Sulfoxy compounds are preferred because they incorporate dyeable end groups in the polymer by a chain-transfer mechanism. Common thermally activated initiators, such as BPO and AIBN, are too slow for use in this process. 

Chemical initiation generates organic radicals, usually by decomposition of a2o (11) or peroxide compounds (12), to form radicals which then react with chlorine to initiate the radical-chain chlorination reaction (see Initiators). Chlorination of methane yields all four possible chlorinated derivatives methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride (13). The reaction proceeds by a radical-chain mechanism, as shown in equations 1 through. Chain initiation... 

Materials that promote the decomposition of organic hydroperoxide to form stable products rather than chain-initiating free radicals are known as peroxide decomposers. Amongst the materials that function in this way may be included a number of mercaptans, sulphonic acids, zinc dialkylthiophosphate and zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate. There is also evidence that some of the phenol and aryl amine chain-breaking antioxidants may function in addition by this mechanism. In saturated hydrocarbon polymers diauryl thiodipropionate has achieved a preeminent position as a peroxide decomposer. 

Acrylic adhesives cure by a free radical chain growth mechanism. In contrast, epoxy and urethane adhesives cure by a step growth mechanism. This has a major impact on the cure kinetics, as well as the composition of the adhesive during cure ([9], pp. 6-9). Cyanoacrylate adhesives (such as Super Glue ) also cure by chain growth, but the mechanism is ionic with initiation by surface moisture. 

R may be a radical formed by the decomposition of an initiator or a growing radical chain. Similarly, grafting by the chain-transfer mechanism occurs when the branched part consists of another monomer. Since cellulose is a poor transfer agent [8], the efficiency of grafting is quite poor. Incorporation of—SH groups into cellulose enhances the probability of chain transfer. This can be achieved as follows ... 

It is commonly found that polymers are less stable particularly to molecular breakdown at elevated temperatures than low molecular weight materials containing similar groupings. In part this may be due to the constant repetition of groups along a chain as discussed above, but more frequently it is due to the presence of weak links along the chain. These may be at the end of the chain (terminal) arising from specific mechanisms of chain initiation and/or termination, or non-terminal and due to such factors as impurities which becomes built into the chain, a momentary aberration in the modus operandi of the polymerisation process, or perhaps, to branch points. 

Transfer to initiator can be a major complication in polymerizations initiated by diacyl peroxides. The importance of the process typically increases with monomer conversion and the consequent increase in the [initiator] [monomer] ratio.9 105160 162 In BPO initiated S polymerization, transfer to initiator may be lire major chain termination mechanism. For bulk S polymerization with 0.1 M BPO at 60 °C up to 75% of chains are terminated by transfer to initiator or primary radical termination (<75% conversion).7 A further consequence of the high incidence of chain transfer is that high conversion PS formed with BPO initiator tends to have a much narrower molecular weight distribution than that prepared with other initiators (e.g. AIBN) under similar conditions. 

In eq. 8, the rate of polymerization is shown as being half order in initiator (T). This is only true for initiators that decompose to two radicals both of which begin chains. The form of this term depends on the particular initiator and the initiation mechanism. The equation takes a slightly different form in the case of thermal initiation (S), redox initiation, diradical initiation, etc. Side reactions also cause a departure from ideal behavior. 

As shown by the data in Fig. 31, the chain transfer constant of this initiator, Q = 1.0. In this context it is of interest to remember that the effect of initiator concentration on the molecular weight of HSi-PaMeSt was negligible, probably because of unfavorable thermodynamics (Sect. III.B.3.b.iv.). In contrast, with isobutylene chain transfer from the propagating carbenium ion to initiator is thermodynamically favorable (see Sect. IH.B.4.b.i.). Thus it is not surprising to find a large Q. The chain transfer mechanism has been illustrated in Scheme 5. 

Variable valence transition metal ions, such as Co VCo and Mn /Mn are able to catalyze hydrocarbon autoxidations by increasing the rate of chain initiation. Thus, redox reactions of the metal ions with alkyl hydroperoxides produce chain initiating alkoxy and alkylperoxy radicals (Fig. 6). Interestingly, aromatic percarboxylic acids, which are key intermediates in the oxidation of methylaromatics, were shown by Jones (ref. 10) to oxidize Mn and Co, to the corresponding p-oxodimer of Mn or Co , via a heterolytic mechanism (Fig. 6). 

So far we have considered only mechanisms involving a single Cr(II) ion, because the centers have been found to be isolated, at least for low Cr loadings. However, the intervention of multiplets of Cr(II) centers cannot be excluded. In fact, it can be hypothesized that an eventual cyclic intermediate formed initially (mechanism I and II) can also evolve into Cr(II)-(CH2) -Cr(II) species, where the chain is anchored to two different chromium centers. In these conditions chromium species carry only a linear chain and the system differs from all the double bridged structures illustrated up to now. 

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