Formation of carbonyl groups in polymers

The mechanism of carbonyl group formation in the main chain of the polymer is not entirely elucidated. The following are some of the suggested mechanisms. 

This reaction is considered by various workers to be responsible for the chemiluminescence observed during the oxidation of polyolefines [94, 637]. 

The formation of a carbonyl group at the end of the chain is possible by the following reactions. 

The following ketone structures at the end of the macromolecules of polystyrene have been postulated  

The content of aldehyde and ketone groups reaches 42% during the thermal oxidation of polypropylene, and 35—44% in polyethylene [5, 7]. This content depends on the conditions of the oxidation, particularly the temperature. The quantitative distribution of various functional groups formed during the oxidation of polyolefines is shown in Table 2. 

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