Free radicals, oxidation chemistry, polymer

In polyethylene, the tertiary carbon atom, which dominated the chemistry of the oxidative degradation of PP, is present only at branch points. This suggests that there may be a difference among LDPE, LLDPE and HDPE in terms of the expected rates of oxidation. This is complicated further by the presence of catalyst residues from the Ziegler-Natta polymerization of HDPE that may be potential free-radical initiators. The polymers also have differences in degree of crystallinity, but these should not impinge on the melt properties at other than low temperatures at which residual structure may prevail in the melt. Also of significance is residual unsaturation such as in-chain tra s-vinylene and vinylidene as well as terminal vinyl, which are defects in the idealized PE strucmre. 

Oxidation of organic compounds by dioxygen is a phenomenon of exceptional importance in nature, technology, and life. The liquid-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons forms the basis of several efficient technological synthetic processes such as the production of phenol via cumene oxidation, cyclohexanone from cyclohexane, styrene oxide from ethylbenzene, etc. The intensive development of oxidative petrochemical processes was observed in 1950-1970. Free radicals participate in the oxidation of organic compounds. Oxidation occurs very often as a chain reaction. Hydroperoxides are formed as intermediates and accelerate oxidation. The chemistry of the liquid-phase oxidation of organic compounds is closely interwoven with free radical chemistry, chemistry of peroxides, kinetics of chain reactions, and polymer chemistry. 

Polymer oxidation is similar to oxidation of low-molecular-weight analogs in the liquid phase and has several peculiarities caused by the specificity of solid-phase free radical reactions of macromolecules. Several monographs are devoted to this field of chemistry [11,12,33-41],... 

Dioxiranes constitute a new class of organic peroxides that possess great potential as oxidants with a variety of applications in synthetic organic chemistry.5 7 A new convenient route for the synthesis of silanol polymers has been developed by the selective oxidation of =Si—H bonds with dimethyldioxirane. A series of styrene-based silanol polymers and copolymers were synthesized (Scheme l).8 9 The precursor polymers and styrene copolymers containing =Si—H bond were first synthesized by free radical polymerization of the corresponding monomers or copolymerization of the... 

The reduction and oxidation of radicals are discussed in Chapter. 6.3-6.5. That in the case of radicals derived from charged polymers the special effect of repulsion can play a dramatic role was mentioned above, when the reduction of poly(U)-derived base radicals by thiols was discussed. Beyond the common oxidation and reduction of radicals by transition metal ions, an unexpected effect of very low concentrations of iron ions was observed in the case of poly(acrylic acid) (Ulanski et al. 1996c). Radical-induced chain scission yields were poorly reproducible, but when the glass ware had been washed with EDTA to eliminate traces of transition metal ions, notably iron, from its surface, results became reproducible. In fact, the addition of 1 x 10 6 mol dm3 Fe2+ reduces in a pulse radiolysis experiment the amplitude of conductivity increase (a measure of the yield of chain scission Chap. 13.3) more than tenfold and also causes a significant increase in the rate of the chain-breaking process. In further experiments, this dramatic effect of low iron concentrations was confirmed by measuring the chain scission yields by a different method. At present, the underlying reactions are not yet understood. These data are, however, of some potential relevance to DNA free-radical chemistry, since the presence of adventitious transition metal ions is difficult to avoid. 

According to Eq. (25), a cyclic phosphite monomer (MN) 38 is oxidized to a phosphate unit yielding copolymer 40 whereas the a-keto acid monomer (ME) 39 is reduced to the corresponding a-hydroxy acid ester. Thus, the term redox copolymerization has been proposed to designate this type of copolymerization in which one monomer is reduced and the other monomer oxidized. The redox copolymerization clearly differs from the so-called redox polymerization in classical polymer chemistry where the redox reaction between the two catalyst components (oxidant and reductant) is responsible for the production of free radicals. 

Hydrolysis is the principal degradation mechanism for the condensation polymers. From the point of view of chemistry, the equilibrium molecular weight of these polymers is determined by the H O concentration at given temperature, T. However, owing to the moisture absorption from the air, the reaction equilibrium is shifted toward depolymerization. The rate of hydrolytic depolymerization depends on the moisture content, T and the presence of catalyst. Since these polymers are also subject to free-radical and oxidative processes (that lead to formation of unsaturations, hence the... 

Antioxidant an-te- ak-so-dont, ian- tI- (1926) n. A substance that slows down the oxidation of oils, fats, etc., and thus helps to check deterioration antioxidants are added commercially to foods, soaps, etc. Although the term technically applies to molecules reacting with oxygen, it is often applied to molecules that protect from any free radical molecule with unpaired electrons. Chemistry encyclopedia, www. ChemistryAbout.com. A substance incorporated in a material to inhibit oxidation at normal or elevated temperatures. Antioxidants are used mainly with natural and synthetic rubbers, petroleum-based resins, and other such polymers that oxidize readily due to structural unsaturation. However, some thermoplastics, namely polypropylene, ABS, rubber-modified polystyrene, acrylic and vinyl resins, also require protection by antioxidants for some uses. There are two main classes (1) Those inhibit oxidation by reacting with chain-propagating radicals, such as hindered phenols that intercept free radicals. These are called primary antioxidants or free-radical scavengers. (2) Those decompose peroxide into non-radical and stable products examples are phosphates and various sulfur compounds, e.g., esters of thiodipropionic acid. These are referred... 

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