The mechanism of the pyrolysis of 2, 2, 3, 3-tetramethylbutane

Abstract

The pyrolysis of 2, 2, 3, 3-tetramethylbutane (TMB) was investigated in the ranges 699-735 K and 3-19 Torr (0.4-2.5 kPa) at up to 4% decomposition. The reaction is strongly self-inhibited and sensitive to the surface/volume ratio of the reaction vessel. A simple Rice-Herzfeld chain terminated by the heterogeneous removal of hydrogen atoms is proposed for the initial, uninhibited reaction generating isobutene and hydrogen in a 2:1 ratio. Self-inhibition is due to abstraction by hydrogen atoms of hydrogen atoms from product isobutene giving resonance-stabilized 2-methylallyl radicals which participate in homogeneous termination reactions. The kinetic characteristics of the major primary products (> 95% on a mole basis), isobutene and hydrogen, are accounted for when reasonable values are assumed for the rate constants for hydrogen atom abstraction by hydrogen atoms from TMB and from isobutene and for initiation and heterogeneous termination of the chain reaction. The kinetic characteristics of the formation of methane and propene (2-4% of total product) are accounted for by the secondary reaction scheme H + i-C 4 H 8 → i-C 4 H 9 , i-C 4 H 9 → CH 3 + C 3 H 6 , CH 3 + TMB → CH 4 + C 8 H 17 , when a reasonable value for the rate constant for the hydrogen atom addition to isobutene is assumed. The kinetic characteristics of the formation of ethene ( ca . 0.1% of total product) are accounted for by the tertiary reaction scheme H + C 3 H 6 → n -C 3 H 7 n -C 3 H 7 → CH 3 + C 2 H 4 , when a reasonable value for the rate constant for the hydrogen atom addition to propene is assumed. The kinetic characteristics of the formation of isobutane ( ca . 1% of total product) are much less affected by an increase in surface/volume ratio of the reactor than are those of the other products. A heterogeneous, secondary source is suggested, viz. 1/2H 2 ( g ) ⇌ H (wall), H (wall) + t-C 4 H 9 ( g ) ⇌ i-C 4 H 10 ( g ), which can generate the observed dependence of the isobutane yield on the reaction conditions but the reasonableness or otherwise of the values of the equilibrium and rate constants it is necessary to postulate is impossible to assess without further work designed specifically to investigate this problem.