ISSN 0036-0244, Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2020, Vol. 94, No. 1, pp. 189–195. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2020.
Russian Text © The Author(s), 2020, published in Zhurnal Fizicheskoi Khimii, 2020, Vol. 94, No. 1, pp. 136–142.
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
AND MAGNETOCHEMISTRY
Low-Temperature Photolysis of Benzoyl Peroxide
a
a
a
a,
S. I. Kuzina , A. I. Bol’shakov , A. V. Kulikov , and A. I. Mikhailov *
a
Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow oblast, 142432 Russia
*е-mail: alfaim@icp.ac.ru
Received March 4, 2019; revised May 15, 2019; accepted June 18, 2019
Abstract—The photolysis of dry benzoyl peroxide (BP) at 77 K in the 480–236 nm range of wavelengths and
an ethanol solution is studied via EPR. It is determined that the main photochemical process in irradiating
BP at λ = 480–365 nm is the direct photodissociation of the O–O peroxide bonds and C–H bonds of ben-
zene rings to form benzoyloxy radicals and atomic hydrogen, which likely forms via a two-quantum mecha-
−5
nism. The quantum yield of primary intermediates is ϕ ≈ 2.7 × 10 . Upon subsequent irradiation of a sample
using light with λ = 300–236 nm, benzoyloxy radicals release carbon dioxide and transform into phenyl rad-
−4
icals with a quantum yield of ϕ ≈ 3 × 10 . At 120–145 K, phenyl radicals react with double bonds of aromatic
rings of PB to form phenyl-substituted cyclohexadienyl radicals vanishing at 273 K. Quantum chemical cal-
culations of the radical structures of photolyzed peroxide are made with the density functional approach
(
B3LYP/6-311g), and good agreement between the experimental and theoretical parameters is noted. Calcu-
lations show that in the structure of benzoyloxy radicals, the spin density is distributed almost equally between
the two oxygen atoms of the radical, due to the conjugation of the unpaired electron to the lone p electron
pair on the oxygen atom of the C=O group. In the photolysis of BP solutions in ethanol at λ ≥ 365 nm, solvent
radicals form via sensitized photolysis through the reaction between primary benzoyloxy radicals and solvent
molecules.
Keywords: benzoyl peroxide, low-temperature (77 K) photolysis, radical intermediates
DOI: 10.1134/S0036024420010161
INTRODUCTION
there has so far been virtually no complete generaliza-
tion of the photolysis of this peroxide, due to both the
imperfection of investigations and the ambiguity of a
number of issues.
The aim of this work was to determine the nature of
the primary products of the photochemical destruc-
tion of benzoyl peroxide. The photolysis of dry BP and
its ethanol solution was therefore studied via 3-cm
EPR at 77 K using filtered light in the λ ≥ 500–236 nm
range of wavelengths. These data are of interest in
determining the role of peroxides as initiators of solid-
phase oxidation reactions and polymerization.
Benzoyl peroxide (BP) is a known initiator of radi-
cal reactions, curing agent for polyester resins, vulca-
nizer, oxidizer, bleaching agent, and deodorant. It is
widely used in polymer chemistry, organic synthesis,
medicine, and household activities. Intensive investi-
gations of BP began in the 1920s after it was discovered
that the BP molecule decomposes into free radicals in
solutions at temperatures of 60–80°C. The interpreta-
tion of reactions as radical processes was based on
analyses of the reaction products. A great many studies
of the thermal and photolytic decomposition of this
substance in various solvents were generalized by
Walling [1] and Nonhebel and Walton [2]. It follows
from the literature data that the thermal decomposi-
tion of BP in solution proceeds in two steps. The
homolytic cleavage of the O–O bond initially pro-
duces benzoyloxy radicals, and the decarboxylation of
EXPERIMENTAL
Benzoyl peroxide C H O was purified via triple
14
10
4
reprecipitation with methanol from cold chloroform
solution. The photolysis of the peroxide and 2% BP
solution in ethanol was conducted in quartz and glass
ampules in vacuum at 77 K. The UV light source was
a DRSh-1000 high-pressure mercury lamp (flux,
benzoyloxy radicals then yields CO and phenyl radi-
2
cals. In a solution, solvent radicals also form.
17
2
The photolysis of the peroxide has been studied to 3.8 × 10 quanta/(cm s) at λ = 236–500 nm). The
a lesser extent, although the photolytic decomposition reuired ranges of the lamp spectrum were cut using a
of BP is often used for the radical initiation of different set of glass light filters. The irradiated samples were
reactions by introducing BP to a reaction system as an heated (above 77 K) in a thermostat cooled with vapor
additive [2, 3]. Although there are many data on BP, of liquid nitrogen. Each irradiated sample was treated
189