Conformation-dependent low-temperature oxidation chemistry of methylcyclohexane: First oxygen addition and chain-branching

Abstract

Conformational effect is an important feature of the low-temperature (low-T) oxidation chemistry of cycloalkanes. In this work, both theoretical calculation and conformational analysis were performed for the first oxygen addition in methylcyclohexane (MCH) oxidation to better understand the influence of the spatial orientation and the steric hindrance of substituted functional groups. Based on synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry (SVUV-PIMS) measurements and adiabatic ionization energy calculations, reactive hydroperoxides, highly oxygenated molecules and stable products were identified in the jet-stirred reactor (JSR) oxidation of 1.0% and 0.5% MCH at 1.04 bar, 500–900 K and the equivalence ratio of 0.25. The abundant formation of 1-methylcyclohexene and the observation of alkenylhydroperoxides and their decomposition products verify the existence of conformation-dependent pathways in first and second oxygen addition in low-T MCH oxidation, respectively. A MCH oxidation model incorporated with conformation-dependent pathways was constructed to consider the conformational effects of cyclohexane ring and sidechain, and was validated against experimental data over a wide range of conditions in this work and literature. The consideration of conformational effects of cyclohexane ring and sidechain can generally better predict the measured species profiles and ignition delay time under low-T conditions. Based on modeling analysis, conformational effects of cyclohexane ring were found to play important roles in first oxygen addition and chain-branching in low-T MCH oxidation. Compared with the situation in low-T cyclohexane oxidation, the methyl substitution on cyclohexane ring reduces its conformational effects on chain-branching process.