ISSN 0036-0244, Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2019, Vol. 93, No. 11, pp. 2123–2130. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2019.
Russian Text © The Author(s), 2019, published in Zhurnal Fizicheskoi Khimii, 2019, Vol. 93, No. 11, pp. 1644–1651.
ON THE 90th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF CHEMISTRY OF THE LOMONOSOV MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY
Thermal Stability of 4-tert-Butyl Diphenyl Oxide
V. A. Shakuna,*, T. N. Nesterovaa, S. V. Tarazanovb, and S. A. Spiridonova
a Samara State Technical University, Samara, 443100 Russia
b All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Refining, Moscow, 111116 Russia
*е-mail: ShakyH@mail.ru
Received February 11, 2019; revised February 11, 2019; accepted May 14, 2019
Abstract―In the temperature range of 703–763 K, the thermal stability of 4-tert-butyl diphenyl oxide
(4-TBDPO) has been studied, the components of the thermolysis reaction mass have been identified, a
kinetic model of the process has been proposed, and the rate constants and parameters of the Arrhenius equa-
tion for all reactions under consideration have been calculated. The predominant role of isomerization trans-
formations of 4-TBDPO has been found. A mechanism for the radical isomerization of the tert-butyl substit-
uent has been proposed.
Keywords: 4-tert-butyl diphenyl oxide, thermal stability, thermal degradation, isomerization, kinetics
DOI: 10.1134/S0036024419110244
Diphenyl oxide (DPO) and its alkyl derivatives are the mutual transformations of thermolysis products,
and it has been shown that the isomerization of
4-TBDPO plays a decisive role in the decomposition
process.
of scientific interest and of great practical importance
in the development of modern industry.
It is well known that DPO mixed with biphenyl is
used as a high-temperature coolant [1, 2]. Based on
DPO derivatives, polymers are created that possess
unique mechanical and optical properties [3]; some of
alkyl DPOs, including those containing C4 substitu-
ents, exhibit the properties of liquid crystals [4].
This information is of great importance in the
research and development of thermostable and heat-
resistant polymers. It is known [11] that aromatic
polyethers have high thermal stability and heat resis-
tance, and the presence of an alkyl substituent in the
core gives the polymer additional properties; for
example, an increased glass transition temperature.
Polyphenylene oxides and their alkyl derivatives are
used at temperatures up to 623 K; therefore, the results
obtained are relevant for developing understandings of
their properties.
However, information on the thermal stability of
diphenyl oxide and its derivatives is limited. The most
extensive studies [5, 6] have been devoted to determin-
ing the initial temperatures and minimum decomposi-
tion energies of alkyl aromatic esters in order to deter-
mine promising hydraulic fluids and lubricants.
EXPERIMENTAL
Recently, interest has increased in the study of the
thermal stability of alkylbenzenes in the production of
promising fuels. Among other compounds, much
attention is paid to butylbenzenes [7–10] as model
structures. These studies are united by the fact that in
reactors of various materials (gold, steel, and glass) in
the temperature range 500–800 K, the decay of n-but-
Starting materials. 4-TBDPO was synthesized, iso-
lated, and purified according to the known procedure
[12]. The concentration of the main substance was
99.93 wt % according to GLC.
Procedure for studying 4-TBDPO thermolysis.
Thermolysis was studied in the gas phase in glass cap-
illaries (l = 23–25 mm; dn = 0.95–1.05 mm) made of
ylbenzene (NBB) and tert-butylbenzene (TBB) by the Pyrex, in which the test substance was placed. The
capillary was flushed with helium (purity 99.999%)
and sealed. The degree of filling was 25–27% of the
volume, which corresponded to a substance mass of
0.8–1.0 mg. Samples were weighted on an Shimadzu
AUW 120D analytical balance with an accuracy of
10‒4 g. The capillary with the substance was thermo-
statted in a laboratory pyrolysis furnace, which
radical mechanism was accompanied by the formation
of sec-butylbenzene (SBB) and isobutylbenzene
(IBB), respectively.
In this work, 4-tert-butyl diphenyl oxide
(4-TBDPO) was chosen as the object of study as a
compound that combines the properties of alkylarenes
and aromatic ethers. We have carried out an analysis of ensured the accuracy of maintaining the temperature
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