Isopropylcyclohexane pyrolysis at high pressure and temperature: Part 1- theoretical study

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of isopropylcyclohexane (IPCH) has been investigated at the CBS-QB3 and CASSCF/MRCI levels of theory. The pyrolysis of IPCH follows a radical chain mechanism, which mainly includes the C–C bond scission, H-atom abstraction, dissociation of alkene and alkyl-cyclohexene, decomposition, and isomerization of alkyl-cyclohexane radicals, decomposition and isomerization of alkenyl radicals, and stepwise dehydrogenation of cyclic intermediates. The rate constants for all elementary reactions have been evaluated with conventional transition state theory (TST/VTST) in the temperature range of 800–2000 K. The energy barriers and rate constants have been compared with previous theoretical reports of other cyclohexanes (like cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane, and ethylcyclohexane) to see the effect of isopropyl group in the cyclohexane dissociation. The final products of IPCH thermal decomposition are methane (CH4), ethylene(C2H4), propylene (C3H6), 1,3-butadiene (1,3-C4H6), and 1,3-pentadiene (1,3-C5H8), benzene, cyclopentadiene etc. The main goal of this work has been to come up with a detailed description of the IPCH thermal decomposition using high-level quantum chemical methods and provide reliable kinetic information to help in understanding the results from shock tube investigations discussed in part 2 of this work.