Pyrolysis of phenylmercaptoacetic acid

Abstract

The pyrolysis of phenylmercaptoacetic acid was investigated by the toluene-carrier technique over the temperature range 760–835 °K. The main products of the decomposition were phenyl mercaptan, carbon dioxide, acetic acid, phenyl methyl sulfide, carbon monoxide, and dibenzyl.The overall decomposition was a first-order reaction with respect to phenylmercaptoacetic acid and could be represented by the two parallel steps:[Formula: see text]Reaction [1] was shown to be a homogeneous first-order dissociation process, and its rate constant was represented by the expression[Formula: see text]The activation energy of this reaction, i.e. 58 kcal/mole, was identified with D(C6H5S—CH2COOH).