Decomposition of 1,3,5-Trioxane at 700-800 K

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j100180a055

The unimolecular decomposition of 1,3,5-trioxane into formaldehyde is studied experimentally in the temperature range 700-800 K in an atmospheric pressure flow reactor.The measured rate constant for the decomposition of trioxane in this temperature range, k = 10^15.28+/-0.06 exp(-(47.5 +/- 2.4) kcal/mol/RT), is compared to previous evalutations at different pressures and temperatures, using the RRKM method to verify the falloff behavior or the decomposition process.Two different sets of parameters were used in the calculations, one purely theoretical, and one estimated from a previous set of shock tube experiments.The comparison between model and experiment is shown to be satisfactory, and the present results are estimated to be close to the high-pressure limit.The overall results show that the rate of decomposition of trioxane is much faster than reported rates of decomposition and oxidation of formaldehyde under a wide range of conditions, so that trioxane can be effectively used as a source of monomeric formaldehyde for kinetic studies.