Radical reactions autoxidation

During the polymeriza tion process the normal head-to-tad free-radical reaction of vinyl chloride deviates from the normal path and results in sites of lower chemical stabiUty or defect sites along some of the polymer chains. These defect sites are small in number and are formed by autoxidation, chain termination, or chain-branching reactions. Heat stabilizer technology has grown from efforts to either chemically prevent or repair these defect sites. Partial stmctures (3—6) are typical of the defect sites found in PVC homopolymers (2—5). 

Other nonpolymeric radical-initiated processes include oxidation, autoxidation of hydrocarbons, chlorination, bromination, and other additions to double bonds. The same types of initiators are generally used for initiating polymerization and nonpolymerization reactions. Radical reactions are extensively discussed in the chemical Hterature (3—15). 

Because of the importance of hydroperoxy radicals in autoxidation processes, their reactions with hydrocarbons arc well known. However, reactions with monomers have not been widely studied. Absolute rate constants for addition to common monomers are in the range 0.09-3 M"1 s"1 at 40 °C. These are substantially lower than kL for other oxygen-centered radicals (Table 3.7). 454... 

Studies on carotenoid autoxidation have been performed with metals. Gao and Kispert proposed a mechanism by which P-carotene is transformed into 5,8-per-oxide-P Carotene, identified by LC-MS and H NMR, when it is in presence of ferric iron (0.2 eq) and air in methylene chloride. The P-carotene disappeared after 10 min of reaction and the mechanism implies oxidation of the carotenoid with ferric iron to produce the carotenoid radical cation and ferrous iron followed by the reaction of molecular oxygen on the carotenoid radical cation. Radical-initiated autoxidations of carotenoids have also been studied using either radical generators like or NBS.35... 

Inhibit autoxidation of organic materials by interfering with free radical reactions that lead to incorporation of oxygen into macromolecules in a chain mechanism consisting of two interacting cyclical processes (Scheme II.1). 

R. F. Vasil ev and coworkers 14> suggested that within the well-known general scheme of radical chain autoxidation reactions ... 

Nitroxyl radicals as alkyl radical acceptors are known to be very weak antioxidants due to the extremely fast addition of dioxygen to alkyl radicals (see Chapter 2). They retard the oxidation of solid polymers due to specific features of free radical reactions in the solid polymer matrix (see Chapter 19). However, the combination of two inhibitors, one is the peroxyl radical acceptor (phenol, aromatic amine) and another is the alkyl radical acceptor (nitroxyl radical) showed the synergistic action [44-46]. The results of testing the combination of nitroxyl radical (>NO ) (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-benzoylpiperidine-l-oxyl) + amine (phenol) in the autoxidation of nonene-1 at 393 K are given here ([>NO ]o + [InH]o = 1.5 x 10 4mol L 1 p02 98 kPa) [44]. 

The ability of organoboron compounds to participate in free radical reactions has been identified since the earliest investigation of their chemistry [1-3]. For instance, the autoxidation of organoboranes (Scheme 1) has been proven to involve radical intermediates [4,5]. This reaction has led recently to the use of triethylborane as a universal radical initiator functioning under a very wide range of reaction conditions (temperature and solvent) [6,7]. 

Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit autoxidation reactions by rapidly reacting with radical intermediates to form less-reactive radicals that are unable to continue the chain reaction. The chain reaction is effectively stopped, since the damaging radical becomes bound to the antioxidant. Thus, vitamin E (a-tocopherol) is used commercially to retard rancidity in fatty materials in food manufacturing. Its antioxidant effect is likely to arise by reaction with peroxyl radicals. These remove a hydrogen atom from the phenol group, generating a resonance-stabilized radical that does not propagate the radical reaction. Instead, it mops up further peroxyl radicals. In due course, the tocopheryl peroxide is hydrolysed to a-tocopherylquinone. 

At elevated temperature alkyl hydroperoxides undergo thermal decomposition to alcohols [Eqs. (9.9)—(9.11)]. This decomposition serves as a major source of free radicals in autoxidation. Because of side reactions, such as p scission of alkylperoxy radicals, this process is difficult to control. Further transformation of the alkoxy... 

The polymeric pyrrolic autoxidation products probably result from the oxidized monomeric systems, which are analogous in structure to those isolated from photooxidation and peroxide oxidation reactions. Thus, for example, analysis of the products of the autoxidation of 1-methylpyrrole (Scheme 47) would suggest that 1 -methyl-A3-pyrrolin-2-one (153) is initially formed from a radical reaction of the pyrrole with triplet oxygen. This reaction sequence should be compared with that proposed for the oxidation of pyrroles with hydrogen peroxide (Scheme 50), which yields (181), (182) and (183) as the major isolable products. The acid-catalyzed reaction of a pyrrole with its oxidation product e.g. 153) also results in the formation of polymeric material and the formation of pyrrole black is probably a combination of oxidation and acid-catalyzed polymerization processes. 

Ethers are susceptible to attack by halogen atoms and radicals, and for this reason they are not good solvents for radical reactions. In fact, ethers are potentially hazardous chemicals, because in the presence of atmospheric oxygen radical-chain formation of peroxides occurs, and peroxides are unstable, explosion-prone compounds. This process is called autoxidation and occurs not only with ethers but with many aldehydes and hydrocarbons. The reaction may be generalized in terms of the following steps involving initiation... 

Two aspects of the autoxidation of (TMS SiH are of interest to synthetic chemists19 (i) for radical reactions having long chain length, traces of molecular oxygen can serve to initiate reactions, and therefore no additional radical initiator is needed, and (ii) the oxidized product does not interfere with radical reactions, and therefore the reagent can be used even if partially oxidized, taking into account the purity of the material. From GC analysis, the exact concentration of silane can be deduced. 

Catalytic oxidation ofl-alkenes.2 The Co(II) complex catalyzes the oxygenation of terminal alkenes to the methyl ketone and the corresponding alcohol. The reaction is not a radical-initiated autoxidation it probably involves a hydroperoxide intermediate. 

Pryor, W.A. (1985) Free Radical Reactions in Autoxidation, Cancer, Heart and Blood Vessel Diseases and Aging. This Volume. 

Possibly the most important reaction of the sulfite radical in autoxidation systems is with molecular oxygen. The reaction has been suggested to lead either to 02 or to the peroxy radical SO5... 

Metals can play a clear but small role in such epoxidations or esterifications with a sacrificial aldehyde. First, it has long been known that the free radical aldehyde autoxidation can be initiated and therefore accelerated by metal ions. For instance, high concentrations of peracid can be obtained with dissolved Fe catalysts (5). As a rule, the presence of a metal allows autoxidation at considerably lower temperature than for the noninitiated reaction. The exact nature of the metal is not critical. Second, epoxidations by a peracid may be metal centered however, at the typical temperatures of the Mukuyiama epoxidation, the uncatalyzed reaction of peracid and olefin is usually fast enough to make the metal redundant for this second step. 

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