Mechanical disproportionation

The second mechanism, disproportionation, takes place as a result of a hydrogen atom abstraction from one radical to another. This results in two dead polymer chains ... 

Two mechanisms have been proposed for the Wurtz reaction (compare Section III,7) and for the Wurtz-Fittig reaction. According to one, sodium reacts with the alkyl halide to produce a sodium halide and a free radical, which subsequently undergoes coupling, disproportionation, etc. ... 

A second Mobil process is the Mobil s Vapor Phase Isomerization Process (MVPI) (125,126). This process was introduced in 1973. Based on information in the patent Hterature (125), the catalyst used in this process is beHeved to be composed of NiHZSM-5 with an alumina binder. The primary mechanism of EB conversion is the disproportionation of two molecules of EB to one molecule of benzene and one molecule of diethylbenzene. EB conversion is about 25—40%, with xylene losses of 2.5—4%. PX is produced at concentration levels of 102—104% of equiHbrium. Temperatures are in the range of 315—370°C, pressure is generally 1480 kPa, the H2/hydrocatbon molar ratio is about 6 1, and WHSV is dependent on temperature, but is in the range of 2—50, although normally it is 5—10. 

The formation of antimony trichloride from antimony oxychloride has been described by two different mechanisms. One asserts that formation is via a thermal disproportionation as described in equations 3—6 (12). 

The free-radical polymerization of methacrylic monomers follows a classical chain mechanism in which the chain-propagation step entails the head-to-taH growth of the polymeric free radical by attack on the double bond of the monomer. Chain termination can occur by either combination or disproportionation, depending on the conditions of the process (36). 

Chains terminate by either of two mechanisms combination or disproportionation. Two chain radicals may combine to form a single bond between... 

Thermal cracking tends to deposit carbon on the catalyst surface which can be removed by steaming. Carbon deposition by this mechanism tends to occur near the entrance of the catalyst tubes before sufficient hydrogen has been produced by the reforming reactions to suppress the right hand side of the reaction. Promoters, such as potash, are used to help suppress cracking in natural gas feedstocks containing heavier hydrocarbons. Carbon may also be formed by both the disproportionation and the reduction of carbon monoxide... 

The main reason that the decreases as the polymerization temperature increases is the increase in the initiation and termination reactions, which leads to a decrease in the kinetic chain length (Fig. 17). At low temperature, the main termination mechanism is polystyryl radical coupling, but as the temperature increases, radical disproportionation becomes increasingly important. Termination by coupling results in higher PS than any of the other termination modes. 

Equation 22 gives the maximum theoretical obtainable chlorine dioxide from the disproportionation of HCIO,. Experimentally, differences in the stoichiometry have been reported. This is because the chloride formed in equation 21 can catalyze the reaction to form more chlorine dioxide as in equation 22. Proposed mechanisms for these reactions and the kinetics under various conditions have been described (16,108). 

Dehydrochlorination of 1,1,2-trichloroethane at 500°C in the presence of a copper catalyst gives a different product, ie, cis- and /n7 j -l,2-dichloroethylene. Addition of small amounts of a chlorinating agent, such as chlorine, promotes radical dehydrochlorination in the gas phase through a disproportionation mechanism that results in loss of hydrogen chloride and formation of a double bond. The dehydrochlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane in the presence of chlorine, as shown in equations 19 and 20, is a typical example. 

The mechanisms of LiAlH4 reductions are more difficult to study. Eliel established that after the first reduction stage monoalkoxyaluminum hydride disproportionates to a tetraalkoxyaluminum hydride and LiAlH4. It... 

Defluorination occurs even with sodium fluoride at 530 °C when tetra-fluorothiolene is converted to 2,5-difluQrothiophene [63], Dehydrofluonnation would be expected at such high temperature, but defluonnation is favored. The product composition also excludes a disproportionation reaction mechanism (equation 32). 

There is quite some evidence for a mechanism as formulated above,especially for the six-membered transition state—the Barton reaction is observed only with starting materials of appropriate structure and geometry, while the photolysis of nitrite esters in general seldom leads to useful products formed by fragmentation, disproportionation or unselective intermolecular hydrogen abstraction. 

Which mechanism of termination will be preferably applied depends largely on the monomer used. Thus, methyl methacrylate chains terminate to a large extent by disproportionation, whereas styrene chains tend to termination by combination. The ratios of termination rate constants 8 = ktJkic (for disproportionation, td, combination,, c) are 5 == 0 and 5 = 2 for styrene [95] and methyl methacrylate [96], respectively. In the case of styrene, however, the values of 8 reported in the literature are at variance. Berger and Meyerhoff [97] found 8 = 0.2, at 52°C. Therefore, it is possible that a fraction of styrene terminates by disproportionation. 

In the period 1910-1950 many contributed to the development of free-radical polymerization.1 The basic mechanism as we know it today (Scheme 1.1), was laid out in the 1940s and 50s.7 9 The essential features of this mechanism are initiation and propagation steps, which involve radicals adding to the less substituted end of the double bond ("tail addition"), and a termination step, which involves disproportionation or combination between two growing chains. 

The most important mechanism for the decay of propagating species in radical polymerization is radical-radical reaction by combination or disproportionation as shown in Scheme 5.1. This process is sometimes simply referred to as bimolecular termination. However, this term is misleading since most chain termination processes are bimolecular reactions. 

The relative importance of combination and disproportionation in relevant model systems and in polymerizations of some common monomers is considered in Sections 5,2.2.1 and 5.2.2.2 respectively. The significance of the termination mechanism on the course of polymerization and on the properties of polymers is discussed briefly in Section 5.2.2 and is further discussed in Section 8.2. 

Four studies suggest that k /kK has a significant temperature dependence (Table 5.5). Although not agreeing on the precise value of ktJkte, all four studies indicate that the proportion of disproportionation increases with increasing temperature. These results are at variance with model studies that suggest that kJkK is independent of temperature. It was also proposed that the preferred termination mechanism is solvent dependent and that disproportionation is favored in more polar media.161... 

Early reports37 157 167 suggested that termination during VAc polymerization involved predominantly disproportionation. However, these investigations did not adequately allow for the occurrence of transfer to monomer and/or polymer, which are extremely important during VAc polymerization (Sections 6.2.6.2 and 6.2.7.4 respectively). These problems were addressed by Bamford et who used the gelation technique (Section 5.2.2,2) to show that the predominant radical-radical termination mechanism is combination (25 °C). 

Studies on VC polymerization are also complicated by the fact that only a small proportion of termination events may involve radical-radical reactions. Most termination is by transfer to monomer (Sections 4.3.1.2 and 6.2.63). Early studies on the termination mechanism which do not allow for this probably overestimate the importance of disproportionation.lb8 iw... 

Unstable structures are known to arise by chain termination. Mechanisms for radical-radical termination in MMA polymerization have been discussed in Sections 5.2.2.1.2 and 5.2.2.2.2 and these are summarized in Scheme 8.5. It is established that both disproportionation and combination occur to substantial extents. The head-to-head linkages 1 and the unsaturated chain ends 2 both constitute weak links in PMMA.26 2 "33 The presence of these groups account for... 

The bond p- to the double bond of the unsaturated disproportionation product 2 is also weaker than other backbone bonds.10 30,32 31 However, it is now believed that the instability of unsaturated linkages is due to a radical-induced decomposition mechanism (Scheme 8.7).30 This mechanism for initiating degradation is analogous to the addition-fragmentation chain transfer observed in polymerizations carried out in the presence of 2 at lower temperatures (see 6.2.3.4, 7.6.5 and 9.5.2). 

As in the case of PS (Section 8.2.1) polymers formed by living radical polymerization (NMP, ATRP, RAFT) have thermally unstable labile chain ends. Although PMMA can be prepared by NMP, it is made difficult by the incidence of cross disproportionation.42 Thermal elimination, possibly by a homolysis-cross disproportionation mechanism, provides a route to narrow polydispersity macromonomers.43 Chemistries for end group replacement have been devised in the case of polymers formed by NMP (Section 9.3.6), ATRP (Section 9.4) and RAFT (Section 9.5.3). 

Certain monomers may be able to act as reversible deactivators by a reversible addition-fragmentation mechanism. The monomers are 1,1-disubstituted and generate radicals that are unable or extremely slow to propagate or undergo combination or disproportionation. For these polymerizations the dormant species is a radical and the persistent species is the 1,1 -disubstituted monomer. 

A wide range of nitroxidcs and derived alkoxyamincs has now been explored for application in NMP. Experimental work and theoretical studies have been carried out to establish structure-property correlations and provide further understanding of the kinetics and mechanism. Important parameters are the value of the activation-deactivation equilibrium constant K and the values of kaa and (Scheme 9.17), the combination disproportionation ratio for the reaction of the nilroxide with Ihe propagating radical (Section 9.3.6.3) and the intrinsic stability of the nitroxide and the alkoxyamine under the polymerization conditions (Section 9.3.6.4). The values of K, k3Cl and ktieact are influenced by several factors.11-1 "7-"9 ... 

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