Pulse radiolysis of alkanes: A time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance study

摘要

Time-resolved spin-echo-detected electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was applied to examine short-lived alkyl radicals formed in pulse radiolysis of liquid alkanes. It was found that the ratio of yields of penultimate and interior radicals in n-alkanes at the instant of their generation is temperature-independent and is ca. 1.25 times greater than the statistical quantity. This higher-than-statistical production of penultimate radicals indicates that the fast ion molecule reactions involving radical cations are a significant route of radical generation. The analysis of spin-echo kinetics in n-alkanes suggests that the alkyl radicals are emissively polarized in spur reactions. this initial polarization rapidly increases with shortening of the aliphatic chain. Another finding is that a long-chain structure of these radicals results in much higher rate of Heisenberg spin exchange relative to the recombination rate. The relative yields of hydrogen abstraction and fragmentation for various branched alkanes are estimated. It is concluded that the fragmentation occurs prior to the formation of radicals in an excited precursor species. Effects of phenolic and alkene additives in radiolysis of n-alkanes are examined. It is demonstrated that phenoxy radicals are produced in dissociative capture of electrons and alkane holes. Another route is a reaction of phenols with free hydrogen atoms. A rapid transfer of singlet correlation from the geminate radical ion pairs is responsible for unusual polarization patterns in the phenoxy and cyclohexadienyl radicals. The significance of these results in the context of cross-linking in polyethylene and higher paraffins is discussed. 56 refs.