1,33-Trioxane

Trioxane is a mast unusual chemical. It is an excellent solvent for many classes of moteriols. Concentrated aqueous solutions of trioxane have solvent properties which are not possessed by trioxane itself. Molten trioxane dissolves numerous organic compounds, such as naphthalene, urea, camphor, dichlorobenzene, etc. It Is stable in alkaline or neutral solutions, yet it is depolymerized ta formaldehyde by small amounts of strong acid or acid-farming materials, and the rate of depolymerization can be readily controlled. 

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It is marketed as a 35-40 per cent, solution in water (formalin). The rpactions of formaldehyde are partly typical of aldehydes and partly peculiar to itself. By evaporating an aqueous solution paraformaldehyde or paraform (CHjO), an amorphous white solid is produced it is insoluble in most solvents. When formaldehyde is distilled from a 60 per cent, solution containing 2 per cent, of sulphuric acid, it pol5unerises to a crystalline trimeride, trioxane, which can be extracted with methylene chloride this is crystalline (m.p. 62°, b.p. 115°), readily soluble in water, alcohol and ether, and devoid of aldehydic properties ... 

The conventional electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide tends to give formic acid as the major product, which can be obtained with a 90% current efficiency using, for example, indium, tin, or mercury cathodes. Being able to convert CO2 initially to formates or formaldehyde is in itself significant. In our direct oxidation liquid feed fuel cell, varied oxygenates such as formaldehyde, formic acid and methyl formate, dimethoxymethane, trimethoxymethane, trioxane, and dimethyl carbonate are all useful fuels. At the same time, they can also be readily reduced further to methyl alcohol by varied chemical or enzymatic processes. 

Copolymer. Acetal copolymers are prepared by copolymerization of 1,3,5-trioxane with small amounts of a comonomer. Carbon-carbon bonds are distributed randomly in the polymer chain. These carbon-carbon bonds help to stabilize the polymer against thermal, oxidative, and acidic attack. 

Oxygen Acetaldehyde, acetone, alcohols, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, Al-Ti alloys, ether, carbon disulflde, halocarbons, hydrocarbons, metal hydrides, 1,3,5-trioxane... 

Cyclic acetals (trioxane cyclic trimer of formaldehyde) O—CHo... 

Polymerization. Paraldehyde, 2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3-5-trioxane [123-63-7] a cycHc trimer of acetaldehyde, is formed when a mineral acid, such as sulfuric, phosphoric, or hydrochloric acid, is added to acetaldehyde (45). Paraldehyde can also be formed continuously by feeding Hquid acetaldehyde at 15—20°C over an acid ion-exchange resin (46). Depolymerization of paraldehyde occurs in the presence of acid catalysts (47) after neutralization with sodium acetate, acetaldehyde and paraldehyde are recovered by distillation. Paraldehyde is a colorless Hquid, boiling at 125.35°C at 101 kPa (1 atm). 

The term "acetal resins" commonly denotes the family of homopolymers and copolymers whose main chains are completely or essentially composed of repeating oxymethylene units (—CH2—O—). The polymers are derived chiefly from formaldehyde or methanal [50-00-00] either directly or through its cychc trimer, trioxane or 1,3,5-trioxacyclohexane [110-88-3]. 

The many commercially attractive properties of acetal resins are due in large part to the inherent high crystallinity of the base polymers. Values reported for percentage crystallinity (x ray, density) range from 60 to 77%. The lower values are typical of copolymer. Poly oxymethylene most commonly crystallizes in a hexagonal unit cell (9) with the polymer chains in a 9/5 helix (10,11). An orthorhombic unit cell has also been reported (9). The oxyethylene units in copolymers of trioxane and ethylene oxide can be incorporated in the crystal lattice (12). The nominal value of the melting point of homopolymer is 175°C, that of the copolymer is 165°C. Other thermal properties, which depend substantially on the crystallization or melting of the polymer, are Hsted in Table 1. See also reference 13. 

The details of the commercial preparation of acetal homo- and copolymers are discussed later. One aspect of the polymerisation so pervades the chemistry of the resulting polymers that familiarity with it is a prerequisite for understanding the chemistry of the polymers, the often subde differences between homo- and copolymers, and the difficulties which had to be overcome to make the polymers commercially useful. The ionic polymerisations of formaldehyde and trioxane are equiUbrium reactions. Unless suitable measures are taken, polymer will begin to revert to monomeric formaldehyde at processing temperatures by depolymerisation (called unsipping) which begins at chain ends. 

When the equihbrium formaldehyde concentration is reached, polymer begins to precipitate. Further polymerisation takes place in trioxane solution and, more importantly, at the surface of precipitated polymer. 

The enthalpy of the copolymerization of trioxane is such that bulk polymerization is feasible. For production, molten trioxane, initiator, and comonomer are fed to the reactor a chain-transfer agent is in eluded if desired. Polymerization proceeds in bulk with precipitation of polymer and the reactor must supply enough shearing to continually break up the polymer bed, reduce particle size, and provide good heat transfer. The mixing requirements for the bulk polymerization of trioxane have been reviewed (22). Raw copolymer is obtained as fine emmb or flake containing imbibed formaldehyde and trioxane which are substantially removed in subsequent treatments which may be combined with removal of unstable end groups. 

Acetal Resins. These are high performance plastics produced from formaldehyde that are used for automotive parts, in building products, and in consumer goods. Acetal resins (qv) are either homopolymers or copolymers of formaldehyde. Typically, the resin is produced from anhydrous formaldehyde or trioxane. The acetal resins formaldehyde demand are 9% of production (115). 

Trioxane and Tetraoxane. The cycHc symmetrical trimer of formaldehyde, trioxane [110-88-3] is prepared by acid-catalyzed Hquid- or vapor-phase processes (147—151). It is a colorless crystalline soHd that bods at 114.5°C and melts at 61—62°C (17,152). The heats of formation are — 176.9 kJ/mol (—42.28 kcal/mol) from monomeric formaldehyde and —88.7 kJ/mol (—21.19 kcal/mol) from 60% aqueous formaldehyde. It can be produced by continuous distillation of 60% aqueous formaldehyde containing 2—5% sulfuric acid. Trioxane is extracted from the distillate with benzene or methylene chloride and recovered by distillation (153) or crystallization (154). It is mainly used for the production of acetal resins (qv). 

Cyclic ether and acetal polymerizations are also important commercially. Polymerization of tetrahydrofuran is used to produce polyether diol, and polyoxymethylene, an excellent engineering plastic, is obtained by the ring-opening polymerization of trioxane with a small amount of cycHc ether or acetal comonomer to prevent depolymerization (see Acetal resins Polyethers, tetrahydrofuran). 

Polyoxymethylene Ionomers. Ionic copolymers have been prepared from trioxane and epichlorohydrin, followed by reaction with disodium thioglycolate (76). The ionic forces in these materials dismpt crystalline order and increase melt viscosity (see Acetalresins). 

Most ozonolysis reaction products are postulated to form by the reaction of the 1,3-zwitterion with the extmded carbonyl compound in a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction to produce stable 1,2,4-trioxanes (ozonides) (17) as shown with itself (dimerization) to form cycHc diperoxides (4) or with protic solvents, such as alcohols, carboxyUc acids, etc, to form a-substituted alkyl hydroperoxides. The latter can form other peroxidic products, depending on reactants, reaction conditions, and solvent. 

Cyclic 1,2,4-trioxanes (18 and 19) have been obtained from the photosensitized oxidation of fiirans (10,44,163). These compounds are... 

Paraformaldehyde [30525-89-4] is a mixture of polyoxymethylene glycols, H0(CH20) H, with n from 8 to as much as 100. It is commercially available as a powder (95%) and as flake (91%). The remainder is a mixture of water and methanol. Paraformaldehyde is an unstable polymer that easily regenerates formaldehyde in solution. Under alkaline conditions, the chains depolymerize from the ends, whereas in acid solution the chains are randomly cleaved (17). Paraformaldehyde is often used when the presence of a large amount of water should be avoided as in the preparation of alkylated amino resins for coatings. Formaldehyde may also exist in the form of the cycHc trimer trioxane [110-88-3]. This is a fairly stable compound that does not easily release formaldehyde, hence it is not used as a source of formaldehyde for making amino resins. 

Hydrogen chloride or a few drops of hydrochloric acid cataly2e the conversion of //-butyraldehyde iato the trimer, parabutyraldehyde, C22H24O2, (2,4,6-tripropyl-l,3,5-trioxane [56769-26-7] (1). The reaction is reversed by heating the parabutyraldehyde ia the presence of acid. Anhydrous hydrogen chloride at —40°C converts //-butyraldehyde iato l,l -dichlorodibutyl ether, (2) ia 70—75% yield (10). 

The polymer also can be made from trioxane (the trimer of formaldehyde), usually as a copolymer with ethylene oxide. The —CH2CH2— fragments in the copolymer chain prevent depolymerization acetal copolymer was developed by Celanese (10). 

Trioxanes bond angles, 3, 949 bond lengths, 3, 949 H NMR, 3, 952 ionization potential, 3, 959 IR spectra, 3, 956 photoelectron spectroscopy, 3, 959 radical cations... 

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