Gas phase oxidation of tetrahydrofuran

✍ Scribed by M. J. Molera; A. Couto; J. A. Garcia-Dominguez

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 556 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0538-8066
• DOI: 10.1002/kin.550200902

✦ Synopsis

The slow gas-phase oxidation of tetrahydrofuran was studied under static conditions at 220°C. The relative amounts of each product, if extrapolated to zero reaction time, show which are the primary reaction products, and the reaction stoichiometry was thus established. Rate constants for hydroperoxides production and consumption were calculated; these hydroperoxides are responsible for chain branching. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide have been shown to be formed in the early stages of the reaction and not simply as end products of oxidative degradation processes. It has been found that at reaction times close to zero one tetrahydrofuran molecule may be attacked in one or several carbon atoms. 65.9% of tetrahydrofuran consumed in the first stages of the reaction forms succinic acid through a mechanism in which one molecule of fuel is attacked by two molecules of oxygen. More than 20% of the tetrahydrofuran molecules are attacked at least by three molecules of oxygen.