THE RADIOLYSIS OF ETHANOL: I. VAPOR PHASE

Abstract

The alpha radiolysis of ethanol vapor at 108 °C produced hydrogen as the major single product, with smaller amounts of methane, carbon monoxide, ethylene, ethane, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, water, 2,3-butanediol, 1,2-propanediol, propanol, and butanol. The initial yield of hydrogen was G(H2) = 8.9 ± 0.4, which is much higher than the values reported for the liquid phase (G(H2) ≈ 4).A mechanism is proposed to account for the formation of the products. However, the observed value of G(H2O) = 5.4 is over four times larger than can be explained by the mechanism.There is a good material balance in the observed reaction products, which indicates that little polymerization occurred during the radiolysis. This is in marked contrast with the vapor phase radiolysis of cyclohexane.