Generation of primary radicals

Initiation is defined as the series of reactions that commences with generation of primary radicals and culminates in addition to the carbon-carbon double bond of the monomer so as to form initiating radicals (Scheme 3.1... 

The generation of primary radicals can generally be represented by eqn. (1) which for an ideal case assumes the rate form ... 

It may be noted that Eq. (6.23) for the rate of polymerization Rp contains a general term R( representing the rate of initiation. The expression for Ri will vary depending on the method used for the generation of primary radicals. For uni-molecular thermal decomposition of initiator compounds [Eq. (6.3)], i is given by Eq. (6.11). Inserting it in Eq. (6.23) yielded the corresponding expression, Eq. (6.24), for the rate of polymerization. 

Given that the rate of generation of primary radicals, at a given light flux, is a function of the concentration of photoinitiator, the induction period depends also on initiator concentration. In order to eliminate this induction period of polymerization in industrial scale applications, many photocuring processes are carried... 

Equations 10.1 and 10.4 show that the number of polymer particles is crucial in determining both the rate and degree of polymerization. The mechanism of polymer particle formation indicates clearly that the number of polymer particles will depend on the emulsifier, its initial concentration (which determines the number of micelles), and the rate of generation of primary radicals. Smith and Ewart have shown that... 

The initiation process constitutes the first reaction step in free radical polymerization, leading to the generation of (primary) radicals. The kinetics of the initiation process, ie its rate and effectiveness, are of fundamental importance in both theoretical studies and commercial applications. Commercial procedures mainly rely on the formation of primary radicals via thermal decomposition processes using azo- and peroxy-type compounds. Investigative kinetic studies are— to a large extent—carried out using photoinitiators, which decompose upon irradiation with UV or visible light. The main reason for this choice is the possibility to define exact start and end times of the initiation and subsequently the polymerization process. 

In the same year, Kelly et al. [KEL 05b] extended the photochemical analysis of Kwon et al. [KWO 99], and a rate, R, associated with the generation of primary radicals, R, was introduced. Primary radicals, assumed to interact with a monomer M, produce the chain initiation... 

Primary and secondary dialkyl peroxides undergo thermal decompositions more rapidly than expected owing to radical-induced decompositions (73). Such radical-induced peroxide decompositions result in inefficient generation of free radicals. 

The decomposition of an initiator seldom produces a quantitative yield of initiating radicals. Most thermal and photochemical initiators generate radicals in pairs. The self-reaction of these radicals is often the major pathway for the direct conversion of primary radicals to non-radical products in solution, bulk or suspension polymerization. This cage reaction is substantial even in bulk polymerization at low conversion when the medium is essentially monomer. The importance of the process depends on the rate of diffusion of these species away from one another. 

The primary product of the oxidation of organic compounds is hydroperoxide, which is known as an effective electron acceptor. Hydroperoxides are decomposed catalytically by transition metal salts and complexes with the generation of free radicals via the following cycle of reactions [1-6] ... 

As observed, aromatic hydrocarbons gave products of protonation on dissolution in hydrofluoric acid. Oxidation into aromatic cation-radicals did not take place (Kon and Blois 1958). Trifluoro-acetic acid is able to transform aromatics into cation-radicals. This acid is considered a middle-powered one-electron oxidant (Eberson and Radnor 1991). Its oxidative ability can be enhanced in the presence of lead tetraacetate. This mixture, however, should be used carefully to avoid oxidation deeper than the one-electron removal. Thus, oxidation of 1,2-phenylenediamine by the system Pb(OCOCH3)4 -I- CE3COOH -P CH2CI2 leads to the formation of either primary or secondary cation-radicals. The primary product is the cation radical of initial phenylenediamine, whereas the secondary product is the cation radical of dihydrophenazine (Omelka et al. 2001). Sulfuric acid is also used as an one-electron oxidant, especially for aromatic hydrocarbons. In this case, generation of cation radicals proceeds simultaneously with the hydrocarbon protonation and sulfonation (Weissmann et al. 1957). 

The PLP-SEC method, like the rotating sector method, involves a non-steady-state photopolymerization [Beuermann, 2002 Beuermann and Buback, 2002 Komherr et al., 2003 Nikitin et al., 2002], Under pulsed laser irradiation, primary radicals are formed in very short times ( 10 ns pulse width) compared to the cycle time ( 1 s). The laser pulse width is also very short compared to both the lifetimes of propagating radicals and the times for conversion of primary radicals to propagating radicals. The PLP-SEC method for measuring kp requires that reaction conditions be chosen so that no significant chain transfer is present. The first laser pulse generates an almost instantaneous burst of primary radicals at high... 

Raising the temperature of a radical chain reaction causes an increase in the overall rate of polymerization since the main effect is an increase in the rate of decomposition of the initiator and hence the number of primary radicals generated per unit time. At the same time the degree of polymerization falls since, according to Eq. 3.3, the rate of the termination reaction depends on the concentration of radicals (see Example 3-2). Higher temperatures also favor side reactions such as chain transfer and branching, and in the polymerization of dienes the reaction temperature can affect the relative proportions of the different types of CRUs in the chains. 

Understandably, most workers who use radiolysis, photoionization, CTFS, or CTTS as the means for generation of (secondary) radical ions pay little attention to the nature of short-lived precursors of these ions. After all, the subject of interest is a secondary rather than a primary ion. This ad hoc approach is justifiable because radiolytic production is just another means of obtaining a sufficient yield of the radical ion. Quite often in such studies, the radiolysis is complemented by other techniques for radical ion generation, such as plasma oxidation, electron bombardment-matrix deposition, and chemical and electrochemical reduction or oxidation. While the data obtained in these studies are useful, there is little radiation chemistry in such—nominally, radiation chemistry—studies. 

There are many excellent books and reviews on the structure and reactions of secondary radical ions generated in radiolytic and photolytic reactions. Common topics include the means and kinetics of radical ion production, techniques for matrix stabilization, electronic and atomic structure, ion-molecule reactions, structural rearrangements, etc. On the other hand, the studies of primary radical ions, viz. solvent radical ions, have not been reviewed in a systematic fashion. In this chapter, we attempt to close this gap. To this end, we will concentrate on a few better-characterized systems. (There have been many scattered pulse radiolysis studies of organic solvents most of these studies are inconclusive as to the nature of the primary species.)... 

Phenol radical cations exist only in strong acidic solutions (pKa -1) [1, 2]. However, in non-polar media phenol radical cations with lifetimes up to some hundred nanoseconds were obtained by pulse radiolysis [3], The free electron transfer from phenols (ArOH) to primary parent solvent radical cations (RX +) (1) resulted in the parallel and synchroneous generation of phenol radical cations as well as phenoxyl radicals in equal amounts, caused by an extremely rapid electron jump in the time scale of molecule oscillations since the rotation of the hydroxyl groups around the C - OH is strongly connected with pulsations in the electron distribution of the highest molecular orbitals [4-6]. 

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