Chlorine-38 atom, thermal reactions

Replacement of Labile Chlorines. When PVC is manufactured, competing reactions to the normal head-to-tail free-radical polymerization can sometimes take place. These side reactions are few ia number yet their presence ia the finished resin can be devastating. These abnormal stmctures have weakened carbon—chlorine bonds and are more susceptible to certain displacement reactions than are the normal PVC carbon—chlorine bonds. Carboxylate and mercaptide salts of certain metals, particularly organotin, zinc, cadmium, and antimony, attack these labile chlorine sites and replace them with a more thermally stable C—O or C—S bound ligand. These electrophilic metal centers can readily coordinate with the electronegative polarized chlorine atoms found at sites similar to stmctures (3—6). 

Chlorine atoms obtained from the dissociation of chlorine molecules by thermal, photochemical, or chemically initiated processes react with a methane molecule to form hydrogen chloride and a methyl-free radical. The methyl radical reacts with an undissociated chlorine molecule to give methyl chloride and a new chlorine radical necessary to continue the reaction. Other more highly chlorinated products are formed in a similar manner. Chain terrnination may proceed by way of several of the examples cited in equations 6, 7, and 8. The initial radical-producing catalytic process is inhibited by oxygen to an extent that only a few ppm of oxygen can drastically decrease the reaction rate. In some commercial processes, small amounts of air are dehberately added to inhibit chlorination beyond the monochloro stage. 

Chlorination of Methane. Methane can be chlorinated thermally, photochemicaHy, or catalyticaHy. Thermal chlorination, the most difficult method, may be carried out in the absence of light or catalysts. It is a free-radical chain reaction limited by the presence of oxygen and other free-radical inhibitors. The first step in the reaction is the thermal dissociation of the chlorine molecules for which the activation energy is about 84 kj/mol (20 kcal/mol), which is 33 kJ (8 kcal) higher than for catalytic chlorination. This dissociation occurs sufficiendy rapidly in the 400 to 500°C temperature range. The chlorine atoms react with methane to form hydrogen chloride and a methyl radical. The methyl radical in turn reacts with a chlorine molecule to form methyl chloride and another chlorine atom that can continue the reaction. The methane raw material may be natural gas, coke oven gas, or gas from petroleum refining. 

Much has been learned in recent years about the 00 dimer , O2O2, produced in reaction 17. It is actually dichlorine peroxide, OOOCl its geometry is now well established from submillimeter wave spectroscopy (15). Photolysis of OOOO around 310 nm the atmospherically important wavelengths -- yields chlorine atoms and ClOO radicals (16), as given in reaction 18, rather than two OO radicals, even though QO-OQ is the weakest bond (it has a strength of about 17 Kcal/mol (17)). Thermal decomposition of QOOQ (the reverse of reaction 17) occurs very fast at room temperature, but more slowly at polar stratospheric temperatures. Hence, photolysis is the predominant destruction path for CIOOQ in the polar stratosphere and two Q atoms are produced for each ultraviolet photon absorbed. 

The chlorination of hydrocarbons proceeds via the chain mechanism [195]. Chlorine atoms are generated photochemically or by the introduction of the initiator. However, liquid-phase chlorination occurs slowly in the dark in the absence of an initiator. The most probable reaction of thermal initiation in RH chlorination is the bimolecular reaction... 

PCDDs are present as trace impurities in some commercial herbicides and chlorophenols. They can be formed as a result of photochemical and thermal reactions in fly ash and other incineration products. Their presence in manufactured chemicals and industrial wastes is neither intentional nor desired. The chemical and environmental stability of PCDDs, coupled with their potential to accumulate in fat, has resulted in their detection throughout the global ecosystem. The number of chlorine atoms in PCDDs can vary between one and eight to produce up to 75 positional isomers. Some of these isomers are extremely toxic, while others are believed to be relatively innocuous. 

Alkanes. The chlorination of ethane known to produce more 1,1-dichloroethane than 1,2-dichloroethane is explained by the so-called vicinal effect.115 One study revealed285 that this observation may be explained by the precursor 1,2-dichloroethane radical (the 11 2-chloroethyl radical) thermally dissociating into ethylene and a chlorine atom [Eq. (10.54)]. Indeed, this radical is the major source of ethylene under the conditions studied. At temperatures above 300°C, the dissociation dominates over the chlorination reaction [Eq. (10.55)], resulting in a high rate of ethylene formation with little 1,2-dichloroethane ... 

Treatment of PVC, suspended in chlorobenzene, with Et2AlCl followed by the addition of methanol greatly improved the thermal stability (6). This will be the subject of a separate publication. However, the nature of the improvement was different—i.e., film pressed in air at 200°C was yellow not colorless, but processing stability as determined by the torque rheometer test in the Brabender Plasticorder at 195°C was far superior and was measured in hours rather than minutes. The removal of labile chlorine atoms by Et2AlCl undoubtedly contributed to heat resistance. However, in the absence of a further reaction, such dehalo-genation probably became dehydrohalogenation, contributing to color development. 

The composition of thermal degradation products was previously shown to be greatly affected by the processing temperature (34)-PVC is inherently unstable because of the presence of allylic chlorine atoms throughout the polymer. These chlorine atoms are easily removed by exposure to minimal heat and/or light which results in the well-known unzippering reaction (35). 

Instability of the polymer is responsible for the primary step in decomposition and is attributed either to fragments of initiator or to branched chains or to terminal double bonds. The appearance of branching is the result of reactions of chain transfer through the polymer, while that of unsaturated terminal groups results from reaction of disproportionation and chain transfer through the monomer. During thermal and thermo-oxidative dehydrochlorination of PVC, allyl activation of the chlorine atoms next to the double bonds occurs. In this volume, Klemchuk describes the kinetics of PVC degradation based on experiments with allylic chloride as a model substance. He observed that thermal stabilizers replace the allylic chlorine at a faster ratio than the decomposition rate of the allylic chloride. 

Investigation of the kinetics of the reaction of 4-chloro-2-pentene, an allylic chloride model for the unstable moiety of polyfvinyl chloride), with several thermal stabilizers for the polymer has led to a better understanding of the stabilization mechanism. One general feature of the mechanism is complexing of the labile chlorine atom by the metal atom of the stabilizer. A second general feature is substitution of the complexed chlorine atom by a ligand (either carboxylate or mercaptide) bound to the metal. Stabilization requires that the new allylic substituent (ester or sulfide) be more thermally stable than the allylic chlorine. The isolation of products from stabilizer-model compound reactions supports the substitution hypothesis of poly(vinyl chloride) stabilization. 

Since the estimated half-time for unimolecular elimination of hydrogen chloride from the allylic chloride is considerably greater than the half-times for reaction with stabilizers, the stabilizers do not function only by reacting with liberated hydrogen chloride. Stabilizers function by substituting the labile chlorine atoms with more thermally stable groups, thereby mending the polymer. 

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