Addition Reactions of Alkyl and Carboxyl Radicals to Vinylidene Fluoride

Abstract

The addition reactions of alkyl radicals CF3* and CH3* and carboxyl radicals C2H5O*, C2H5OCOO*, CF3COO*, and CH3COO* to a vinylidene fluoride (VDF) molecule are studied using ab initio calculations. These radicals were selected because they are intermediate or final products of diacyl peroxides decomposition in the initiation reactions of VDF polymerization. Two combinations of methods for energetics and structure optimization are applied: QCISD/6-311G(d,p)//HF/6-31G(d) and B3LYP/6-311G+(3df, 2p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d). It is found that the formed bond length of the product, the forming bond length of the transition state, and the attack angle of the product structures are not sensitive to the level of theory even though the attack angle of the transition state structures is. Early transition states are obtained upon attack at both high-substituted and nonsubstituted carbon atom VDF ends. Kinetic and thermodynamic control rules play different roles on governing the reactivity of the addition with the studied radicals. Both theoretical methods yield the same trends for the preferential attack site in terms of regioselectivity, barrier energies, and reaction enthalpies. It is shown that the addition reactions of the intermediate radicals C2H5OCOO*, CF3COO*, and CH3COO* of the decomposition of diethyl peroxydicarbonate, trifluoroacetyl peroxide, and diacetyl peroxide initiators yield smaller energy barriers than the additions of the corresponding final radicals, C2H5O*, CF3*, and CH3*; therefore, the reactions of the intermediate radicals should not be ignored when analyzing the initiation process of the VDF polymerization using those initiators.