Decomposition of peroxide radicals

Isomerization and decomposition of peroxide radicals—reactions which obviously do occur and which exert significant influence—depend on the nature of the reaction vessel s surface. For example, when butane is oxidized in a glass reactor, products formed by breakdown of R02 radicals are completely absent, whereas in a steel reactor they correspond to 20 mole % of the reacted butane. The quantity of these products rises to 35 mole % when the reactor is filled with metal packing shapes. 

Formation of products containing less than four carbon atoms is not related to the catalytic activity of the metal on the decomposition of hydroperoxides. Hence, the liquid-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons involves heterogeneous catalytic reactions of isomerization and decomposition of peroxide radicals, proceeding on the reactor surface. 

These dependences seem to be determined by the surface content in molecular and atomic oxygen, and by the rates of oxidation and decomposition of peroxide radicals. 

To explain the second order of the destruction of radicals in oxygen, the authors proposed a kinetic scheme proceeding through the formation and decomposition of peroxide radicals and showed that the decomposition of the peroxide radical occurs at a great rate. 

Then a peroxide radical and hydroperoxides are formed at the site of stripping of the hydrogen atom. Water is obtained when the hydroperoxides decompose (see p. 16). In the thermal oxidation of polyamides, the liberation of water may lead to hydrolysis of the polymer and an increase in the number of terminal carboxyl groups. Decarboxylation gives carbon dioxide. In addition to decomposition of hydroperoxides, decomposition of peroxide radicals may also occur ... 

Figure 19.3 Decomposition of Peroxide Radicals by Aromatic Amines...

Figure 19.4 Decomposition of Peroxide Radicals by Sterically Hindered Phenols...

Special types of hydrogen donors include phenols and aromatic amines. Notably, aromatic amines are also known as accelerators in peroxide curing of unsaturated poly(ester)s resins. The mechanism of the decomposition of peroxide radicals by aromatic amines is shown in Figure 19.3. 

Catalysts and Promoters. The function of catalysts in LPO is not weU understood. Perhaps they are not really catalysts in the classical sense because they do not necessarily speed up the reaction (25). They do seem to be able to alter relative rates and thereby affect product distributions, and they can shorten induction periods. The basic function in shortening induction periods appears to be the decomposition of peroxides to generate radicals (eq. 33). 

Thermally induced homolytic decomposition of peroxides and hydroperoxides to free radicals (eqs. 2—4) increases the rate of oxidation. Decomposition to nonradical species removes hydroperoxides as potential sources of oxidation initiators. Most peroxide decomposers are derived from divalent sulfur and trivalent phosphoms. 

Diacyl peroxides are sources of alkyl radicals because the carboxyl radicals that are intitially formed lose CO2 very rapidly. In the case of aroyl peroxides, products may be derived from the carboxyl radical or the radical formed by decarboxylation. The decomposition of peroxides can also be accomplished by photochemical excitation. 

The Chemistry of Radical Polymerization Table 3.5 Selected Kinetic Data for Decomposition of Peroxides ... 

The reactions of /-butoxy radicals are amongst the most studied of all radical processes. These radicals are generated by thermal or photochemical decomposition of peroxides or hyponitrites (Scheme 3.75). 

Peroxide decomposition in aromatic and other unsaturated solvents homolytic aroniMic substitution and olefin polymerization Decomposition of peroxides in aromatic solvents leads to attack on the aromatic nucleus by radicals and hence to substitution products (for a recent summary, see Williams, 1970). In the substitution of benzene and related substrates by phenyl radicals, for example, cyclohexadienyl... 

A general reaction mechanism for the grafting of MA onto EPM is given in Figure 13.3 [15,16]. Free-radical grafting of MA starts with the decomposition of the radical initiator, usually a peroxide [15,18]. The peroxide decomposes at elevated temperamres into the corresponding oxy radicals, which may further degrade to alkyl radicals and ketones. These oxy and alkyl radicals abstract... 

This may occur by free-radical formation, especially in the presence of transition-metal ions such as those of iron or copper. Similar mechanisms can result in the decomposition of peroxide but there are means of controlling or avoiding this problem. 

A very serious problem was to clear up the formation of hydroperoxides as the primary product of the oxidation of a linear aliphatic hydrocarbon. Paraffins can be oxidized by dioxygen at an elevated temperature (more than 400 K). In addition, the formed secondary hydroperoxides are easily decomposed. As a result, the products of hydroperoxide decomposition are formed at low conversion of hydrocarbon. The question of the role of hydroperoxide among the products of hydrocarbon oxidation has been specially studied on the basis of decane oxidation [82]. The kinetics of the formation of hydroperoxide and other products of oxidation in oxidized decane at 413 K was studied. In addition, the kinetics of hydroperoxide decomposition in the oxidized decane was also studied. The comparison of the rates of hydroperoxide decomposition and formation other products (alcohol, ketones, and acids) proved that practically all these products were formed due to hydroperoxide decomposition. Small amounts of alcohols and ketones were found to be formed in parallel with ROOH. Their formation was explained on the basis of the disproportionation of peroxide radicals in parallel with the reaction R02 + RH. 

Epoxide is formed side by side with oligomeric peroxide during monomer oxidation. Miller and Mayo [54] assumed the following mechanism of decomposition of formed radicals ... 

Radicals produced from the initiator either directly attack the organic compound RH (for instance, this is the case during the decomposition of peroxides) or first react with dioxygen, and then, already as peroxyl radicals, attack RH (for instance, this is the case of decomposition of azo-compounds). RH gives rise to alkyl radicals when attacked by these radicals. The reaction of dioxygen addition to an alkyl radical,... 

This dependence is the result of general occurrence of the homolytic decay of peroxide with the rate constant kd and chain decomposition of peroxide due to reactions with the radical formed from the solvent RH according to the following kinetic scheme ... 

The very intensive chain decomposition of benzoyl peroxide was found in alcoholic solutions [16,18,19]. This is the result of the very high reductive activity of ketyl radicals formed from alcohol. They cause the chain decomposition of peroxide by the following mechanism ... 

Ketones play an important role in the decomposition of peroxides to form radicals in alcohols undergoing oxidation. The formed hydroxyhydroperoxide decomposes to form radicals more rapidly than hydrogen peroxide. With an increase in the ketone concentration, there is an increase in the proportion of peroxide in the form of hydroxyhydroperoxide, with the corresponding increase in the rate of formation of radicals. This was proved by the acceptor radical method in the cyclohexanol-cyclohexanone-hydrogen peroxide system [59], The equilibrium constant was found to be K — 0.10 L mol 1 (373 K), 0.11 L mol 1 (383 K), and 0.12 L mol 1 (393 K). The rate constant of free radical generation results in the formation of cyclohexylhydroxy hydroperoxide decomposition and was found to be ki = 2.2 x 104 exp(—67.8/7 7) s 1 [59]. 

Thermal decomposition of peroxides generates a variety of radical groups which can covalently react with CNTs. This strategy has been employed in particular by Peng and co-workers who functionalized sidewalls with benzoyl, lauroyl and carboxyalkyl derivatives [38]. 

A number of reports on the thermal decomposition of peroxides have been published. The thermal decompositions of f-butyl peroxyacetate and f-butyl peroxypivalate, of HCOH and a kinetic study of the acid-induced decomposition of di-f-butyl peroxide in n-heptane at high temperatures and pressures have been reported. Thermolysis of substituted f-butyl (2-phenylprop-2-yl) peroxides gave acetophenone as the major product, formed via fragmentation of intermediate alkoxy radicals RCH2C(Ph)(Me)0. A study of the thermolysis mechanism of di-f-butyl and di-f-amyl peroxide by ESR and spin-trapping techniques has been reported. The di-f-amyloxy radical has been trapped for the first time. jS-Scission reaction is much faster in di-f-amyloxyl radicals than in r-butoxyl radicals. The radicals derived from di-f-butyl peroxide are more reactive towards hydrogen abstraction from toluene than those derived from di-f-amyl peroxide. 

A wide variety of peroxides have been used to produce alkyl radicals, either directly as fragments of the decomposition of peroxides, or indirectly by hydrogen abstraction from suitable solvents. The production of alkyl radicals used in homolytic alkylation has been accomplished by thermal or photochemical homolysis and recently also by redox reactions due to the possibilities offered by alkylation in acidic aqueous solution. 

Many polymerizations are initiated by free radicals, especially alkoxy radicals formed by thermal decomposition of peroxides. A general mechanism for olefin free radical polymerization with initiation, propagation, and termination is given in Fig. 14.1. 

Aliphatic amines have much less effect on the later reactions of the gas-phase oxidation of acetaldehyde and ethyl ether than if added at the start of reaction. There is no evidence that they catalyze decomposition of peroxides, but they appear to retard decomposition of peracetic acid. Amines have no marked effect on the rate of decomposition of tert-butyl peroxide and ethyl tert-butyl peroxide. The nature of products formed from the peroxides is not altered by the amine, but product distribution is changed. Rate constants at 153°C. for the reaction between methyl radicals and amines are calculated for a number of primary, secondary, and tertiary amines and are compared with the effectiveness of the amine as an inhibitor of gas-phase oxidation reactions. 

The results given in this paper show that aliphatic amines do not catalyze the decomposition of peroxides, and compared with their effect at the start of reaction, they have much less effect on the later stages of oxidation, although they appear to retard the decomposition of peracetic acid. The reactions of radicals with aliphatic amines indicate that an important mode of inhibition is most probably by stabilization of free radicals by amine molecules early in the chain mechanism, possibly radicals formed from the initiation reaction between the fuel and oxygen. For inhibition to be effective, the amine radical must not take any further part in the chain reaction set up in the fuel-oxygen system. The fate of the inhibitor molecules is being elucidated at present. 

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