Disproportionation molecular

This mode of termination produces a negligible effect on the molecular weight of the reacting species, but it does produce a terminal unsaturation in one of the dead polymer molecules. Each polymer molecule contains one initiator fragment when termination occurs by disproportionation. 

This contrasts with a limiting ratio of 2 for the case of termination by disproportionation. Since and can be measured, this difference is potentially a method for determining the mode of termination in a polymer system. In most instances, however, termination occurs by some proportion of both modes. Although general expressions exist for the various averages and their ratio when both modes of termination are operative, molecular weight data are generally not sufficiently precise to allow the proportions of termination modes to be determined in this way. 

Benzene, toluene, and a mixed xylene stream are subsequently recovered by extractive distillation using a solvent. Recovery ofA-xylene from a mixed xylene stream requires a further process step of either crystallization and filtration or adsorption on molecular sieves. o-Xylene can be recovered from the raffinate by fractionation. In A" xylene production it is common to isomerize the / -xylene in order to maximize the production of A xylene and o-xylene. Additional benzene is commonly produced by the hydrodealkylation of toluene to benzene to balance supply and demand. Less common is the hydrodealkylation of xylenes to produce benzene and the disproportionation of toluene to produce xylenes and benzene. 

In natural rubber, the cross-linking of these radicals is hindered because of the bulkiness of the methyl side group. Consequently, these radicals prefer to disproportionate and cleave. This reduces the molecular weight and natural rubber softens on ageing. 

Dithiazolyl radicals have also attracted considerable attention recently as potential molecular conductors (Section 11.3.6). The advantage of these systems over 1,2,3,5-dithiadiazolyls lies in their relatively low disproportionation energies (Section 11.3.1). 

More complex is the hydrolytic disproportionation of the molecular halogens themselves in aqueous alkali which is a commercial route to several alkali-metal halides ... 

Anhydrous NaC102 crystallizes from aqueous solutions above 37.4° but below this temperature the trihydrate is obtained. The commercial product contains about 80% NaC102. The anhydrous salt forms colourless deliquescent crystals which decompose when heated to 175-200° the reaction is predominantly a disproportionation to C103 and Cl but about 5% of molecular O2 is also released (based on the C102 consumed). Neutral and alkaline aqueous solutions of NaC102 are stable at room temperature (despite their thermodynamic instability towards disproportionation as evidenced by the reduction potentials on p. 854). This is a kinetic activation-energy effect and, when the solutions are heated near to boiling, slow disproportionation occurs ... 

In general, the activation energies for both cationic and anionic polymerization are small. For this reason, low-temperature conditions are normally used to reduce side reactions. Low temperatures also minimize chain transfer reactions. These reactions produce low-molecular weight polymers by disproportionation of the propagating polymer ... 

Even though the rate of radical-radical reaction is determined by diffusion, this docs not mean there is no selectivity in the termination step. As with small radicals (Section 2.5), self-reaction may occur by combination or disproportionation. In some cases, there are multiple pathways for combination and disproportionation. Combination involves the coupling of two radicals (Scheme 5.1). The resulting polymer chain has a molecular weight equal to the sum of the molecular weights of the reactant species. If all chains are formed from initiator-derived radicals, then the combination product will have two initiator-derived ends. Disproportionation involves the transfer of a P-hydrogen from one propagating radical to the other. This results in the formation of two polymer molecules. Both chains have one initiator-derived end. One chain has an unsaturated end, the other has a saturated end (Scheme 5.1). 

Hensley ei al.,n reported the only direct experimental observation of head-to-head linkages in PS by 2D INADEQUATE NMR on, 3C-enriched PS. The method did not enable these groups to be quantified with sufficient precision for evaluation of W tc- Zammit el a/.130 studied chain distribution of low molecular weight PS prepared with AIBN initiator by MALDI-TOF. Separate distributions of chains formed by combination and disproportionation were observed. They estimated kJkK. at 90 °C to be 0.057. 

Olaj et /.124 proposed that termination of S polymerization involves substantial disproportionation. They analyzed the molecular weight distribution of PS samples prepared with either BPO or AIBN as initiator at temperatures in the range 20-90 °C and estimated kJkK to be ca 0.2. In a more recent study, Olaj et a/.149 determined the molecular weight distribution of PS samples prepared with photoinitiation at 60 and 85 °C and estimated values of kxproblems associated with estimating k-.vk , on the basis of dispersity measurements and determined that kxiiklc should be "substantially smaller" than suggested by Olaj et til.m... 

The nature of the termination reaction in MMA polymerization has been investigated by a number of groups using a wide range of techniques (Tabic 5.5), There is general agreement that there is substantial disproportionation. However, there is considerable discrepancy in the precise values of k tk. In some cases the difference has been attributed to variations in the way molecular weight data are interpreted or to the failure to allow for other modes of termination under the polymerization conditions (chain transfer, primary radical termination).154 In other eases the reasons for the discrepancies are less clear. MALDI-TOF mass... 

GPC-derived weight average molecular weights are often less prone to error than number average molecular weights. When termination is wholly hy disproportionation or chain transfer and chains are long (>10 units), classical kinetics predicts Xn = XJ2 (Section 5.2.1.3). It follows that Cit can be obtained from the slope of a plot of 21 Xw vs [T]0/[M]t>."4 "5 The errors introduced even when the dominant process for radical-radical termination is combination (e.g. S polymerization) are small as long as X n is small in relation to... 

Values of CP measured in the presence of added PMMA (for example) will depend on how the PMMA was prepared and its molecular weight (i.e. on the concentration of unsaturated ends). PMMA formed by radical polymerization in the presence of a good H-donor transfer agent (or by anionic polymerization) would have only saturated chain ends. These PMMA chains should have a different transfer constant to those formed by normal radical polymerization where termination occurs by a mixture of combination and disproportionation. This could account for some of the variation in the values of CP for this polymer... 

When the reaction conditions approach the thermodynamic equilibrium, isomerization follows. The distribution of the double bond is statistical. The molecular formation in the disproportionation stage is also statistical. Normally a run will produce 10-15% by weight of product, which is then suitable for LAB synthesis after distillation. The physical data of these internal olefins are shown in Table 4 [41]. 

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