Free radicals rates

Reactivity fraction for free radicals Rate constant Rate of reaction Time... 

This species, superimposed on several longer-lived species is shown in Figure 1 as the sharp spike at the beginning of the decay curve. When this species is observed in a pulse, the corresponding kinetics shown by the sample conform to the maximum rates reported by both Potter et ah (30) and Ueno et ah (35). On the other hand, for samples in which this species is not observed (because of improper sample preparation) the observed rate of polymerization is approximately one-half or one-third less (depending on dose rate) than the maximum rates, but still 103 times higher than the free radical rates. 

A pulse radiolysis study of the formation, decay, and absorption spectra - of transients produced by reactions of DNA and of some of its constituents with the OH- free radical is presented in this paper. Solutions were saturated with N20 so that the only significant reactive species produced by radiation was the OH- free radical. Rates of formation were determined by direct observation of the growth of transient absorption. Compounds and conditions were selected to permit investigation of (a) the sites of attack by OH- on pyrimidine bases, nucleosides, and DNA under various conditions (b) charge effects on reaction rates (c) comparative rates of addition to pyrimidine bases, and abstraction from... 

This agrees with the overall rate data, which is first order. However, estimates of the concentrations of the ethyl and hydrogen radicals, as found from the steady-state approximation and the free radical rate expressions, indicate that the former is the larger, and thus that the alternate termination reaction (f) would be more appropriate. Unfortunately, this is (jifi), and leads to an incorrect order of one-half. There are also other predictions of temperature coefficients of reaction and foreign gas effects that are not in agreement with the experiment. This is an illustration of how carefully one must cteck all the implications of an assumed mechanism. 

We can estimate an upper limit for the autoxidation as follows. We assume that despite the fact that we do not observe any catalyzed CHP decomposition even after 120 hours at 65°C, we still decompose it at a rate of 1% over a period of 120 hours. Using this rate for radical production, the normal solution rate constants for the propagation and termination reactions and the formulae given in Ref. 10, we estimate the rate of CHP production to be 0.54 X 10 Ms The observed rate, 2.6 x 10 Ms l, is thus about 5 times larger then the upper limit of the estimated initiated free-radical rate. 

Zammit, U.D., Davies, T.P., Haddleton, D.M., and Suddaby, K.G., MALDI determination of Rate of Free-Radical Rate Coefficients, Macromolecules, 30,1915 (1997). 

Coote, M. L., Zammit, M. D., and Davis, T. R, Determination of Free-radical Rate Coefficients Using Pulsed-laser Pol5nnerization, Trip, 4, 189, 1996. 

Fig. 1-19. Partial rate factors of free radical phenylation relative to benzene (398).

Antioxidants markedly retard the rate of autoxidation throughout the useful life of the polymer. Chain-terminating antioxidants have a reactive —NH or —OH functional group and include compounds such as secondary aryl amines or hindered phenols. They function by transfer of hydrogen to free radicals, principally to peroxy radicals. Butylated hydroxytoluene is a widely used example. 

In this section we discuss the initiation step of free-radical polymerization. This discussion is centered around initiators and their decomposition behavior. The first requirement for an initiator is that it be a source of free radicals. In addition, the radicals must be produced at an acceptable rate at convenient temperatures have the required solubility behavior transfer their activity to... 

Any one of these expressions gives the rate of initiation Rj for the particular catalytic system employed. We shall focus attention on the homolytic decomposition of a single initiator as the mode of initiation throughout most of this chapter, since this reaction typifies the most widely used free-radical initiators. Appropriate expressions for initiation which follows Eq. (6.6) are readily derived. 

Polymer propagation steps do not change the total radical concentration, so we recognize that the two opposing processes, initiation and termination, will eventually reach a point of balance. This condition is called the stationary state and is characterized by a constant concentration of free radicals. Under stationary-state conditions (subscript s) the rate of initiation equals the rate of termination. Using Eq. (6.2) for the rate of initiation (that is, two radicals produced per initiator molecule) and Eq. (6.14) for termination, we write... 

This important equation shows that the stationary-state free-radical concentration increases with and varies directly with and inversely with. The concentration of free radicals determines the rate at which polymer forms and the eventual molecular weight of the polymer, since each radical is a growth site. We shall examine these aspects of Eq. (6.23) in the next section. We conclude this section with a numerical example which concerns the stationary-state radical concentration for a typical system. 

When results are compared for polymerization experiments carried out at different frequencies of blinking, it is found that the rate depends on that frequency. To see how this comes about, we must examine the variation of radical concentration under non-stationary-state conditions. This consideration dictates the choice of photoinitiated polymerization, since in the latter it is almost possible to turn on or off—with the blink of a light—the source of free radicals. The qualifying almost in the previous sentence is actually the focus of our attention, since a short but finite amount of time is required for the radical concentration to reach [M-] and a short but finite amount of time is required for it to drop back to zero after the light goes out. 

Demonstrate that the variations in the rate of initiation and r are consistent with free-radical kinetics and evaluate k. ... 

Table 6.5 Some Free Radical Combination Reactions Which Yield n-mers and Their Rate Laws...

The three-step mechanism for free-radical polymerization represented by reactions (6.A)-(6.C) does not tell the whole story. Another type of free-radical reaction, called chain transfer, may also occur. This is unfortunate in the sense that it complicates the neat picture presented until now. On the other hand, this additional reaction can be turned into an asset in actual polymer practice. One of the consequences of chain transfer reactions is a lowering of the kinetic chain length and hence the molecular weight of the polymer without necessarily affecting the rate of polymerization. 

In this example the number of micelles per unit volume is exactly twice the stationary-state free-radical concentration hence the rates are identical. Although the numbers were chosen in this example to produce this result, neither N nor M are unreasonable values in actual emulsion polymerizations. 

We saw in the last chapter that the stationary-state approximation is apphc-able to free-radical homopolymerizations, and the same is true of copolymerizations. Of course, it takes a brief time for the stationary-state radical concentration to be reached, but this period is insignificant compared to the total duration of a polymerization reaction. If the total concentration of radicals is constant, this means that the rate of crossover between the different types of terminal units is also equal, or that R... 

Note that this inquiry into copolymer propagation rates also increases our understanding of the differences in free-radical homopolymerization rates. It will be recalled that in Sec. 6.1 a discussion of this aspect of homopolymerization was deferred until copolymerization was introduced. The trends under consideration enable us to make some sense out of the rate constants for propagation in free-radical homopolymerization as well. For example, in Table 6.4 we see that kp values at 60°C for vinyl acetate and styrene are 2300 and 165 liter mol sec respectively. The relative magnitude of these constants can be understod in terms of the sequence above. 

Azobisnittiles are efficient sources of free radicals for vinyl polymerizations and chain reactions, eg, chlorinations (see Initiators). These compounds decompose in a variety of solvents at nearly first-order rates to give free radicals with no evidence of induced chain decomposition. They can be used in bulk, solution, and suspension polymerizations, and because no oxygenated residues are produced, they are suitable for use in pigmented or dyed systems that may be susceptible to oxidative degradation. 

Because the decomposition is first order, the rate of free-radical formation can be controlled by regulating the temperature equations relating half-life to temperature are provided in Table 7. These decomposition rates ate essentially independent of the solvent (73). 

Usually, free-radical initiators such as azo compounds or peroxides are used to initiate the polymerization of acrylic monomers. Photochemical (72—74) and radiation-initiated (75) polymerizations are also well known. At a constant temperature, the initial rate of the bulk or solution radical polymerization of acrylic monomers is first order with respect to monomer concentration and one-half order with respect to the initiator concentration. Rate data for polymerization of several common acrylic monomers initiated with 2,2 -azobisisobutyronittile (AIBN) [78-67-1] have been determined and are shown in Table 6. The table also includes heats of polymerization and volume percent shrinkage data. 

Thermal Oxidative Stability. ABS undergoes autoxidation and the kinetic features of the oxygen consumption reaction are consistent with an autocatalytic free-radical chain mechanism. Comparisons of the rate of oxidation of ABS with that of polybutadiene and styrene—acrylonitrile copolymer indicate that the polybutadiene component is significantly more sensitive to oxidation than the thermoplastic component (31—33). Oxidation of polybutadiene under these conditions results in embrittlement of the mbber because of cross-linking such embrittlement of the elastomer in ABS results in the loss of impact resistance. Studies have also indicated that oxidation causes detachment of the grafted styrene—acrylonitrile copolymer from the elastomer which contributes to impact deterioration (34). 

Tocotrienols differ from tocopherols by the presence of three isolated double bonds in the branched alkyl side chain. Oxidation of tocopherol leads to ring opening and the formation of tocoquinones that show an intense red color. This species is a significant contributor to color quaUty problems in oils that have been abused. Tocopherols function as natural antioxidants (qv). An important factor in their activity is their slow reaction rate with oxygen relative to combination with other free radicals (11). 

The two possible initiations for the free-radical reaction are step lb or the combination of steps la and 2a from Table 1. The role of the initiation step lb in the reaction scheme is an important consideration in minimising the concentration of atomic fluorine (27). As indicated in Table 1, this process is spontaneous at room temperature [AG25 = —24.4 kJ/mol (—5.84 kcal/mol) ] although the enthalpy is slightly positive. The validity of this step has not yet been conclusively estabUshed by spectroscopic methods which makes it an unsolved problem of prime importance. Furthermore, the fact that fluorine reacts at a significant rate with some hydrocarbons in the dark at temperatures below —78° C indicates that step lb is important and may have Httie or no activation energy at RT. At extremely low temperatures (ca 10 K) there is no reaction between gaseous fluorine and CH or 2 6... 

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