title: Direct detection of products from the pyrolysis of 2-phenethyl phenyl ether.
abstract: The pyrolysis of 2-phenethyl phenyl ether (PPE, C(6)H(5)C(2)H(4)OC(6)H(5)) in a hyperthermal nozzle (300-1350 °C) was studied to determine the importance of concerted and homolytic unimolecular decomposition pathways. Short residence times (<100 μs) and low concentrations in this reactor allowed the direct detection of the initial reaction products from thermolysis. Reactants, radicals, and most products were detected with photoionization (10.5 eV) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PIMS). Detection of phenoxy radical, cyclopentadienyl radical, benzyl radical, and benzene suggest the formation of product by the homolytic scission of the C(6)H(5)C(2)H(4)-OC(6)H(5) and C(6)H(5)CH(2)-CH(2)OC(6)H(5) bonds. The detection of phenol and styrene suggests decomposition by a concerted reaction mechanism. Phenyl ethyl ether (PEE, C(6)H(5)OC(2)H(5)) pyrolysis was also studied using PIMS and using cryogenic matrix-isolated infrared spectroscopy (matrix-IR). The results for PEE also indicate the presence of both homolytic bond breaking and concerted decomposition reactions. Quantum mechanical calculations using CBS-QB3 were conducted, and the results were used with transition state theory (TST) to estimate the rate constants for the different reaction pathways. The results are consistent with the experimental measurements and suggest that the concerted retro-ene and Maccoll reactions are dominant at low temperatures (below 1000 °C), whereas the contribution of the C(6)H(5)C(2)H(4)-OC(6)H(5) homolytic bond scission reaction increases at higher temperatures (above 1000 °C).
authors.affiliation: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, Colorado 80401, USA. mark.jarvis@nrel.gov
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Daily
authors.forename: Hans-Heinrich
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Carstensen
authors.forename: Anthony M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.forename: Shantanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Dayton
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Robichaud
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Nimlos
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D004987:Ethers / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010647:Phenyl Ethers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: C557949:2-phenethyl phenyl ether; D004987:Ethers; D010647:Phenyl Ethers; D002244:Carbon