Abstract
The primary thermal decomposition mechanism of poly(ethylene oxalate) (PEO) has been investigated by pyrolysis-mass spectrometry. Several mass spectrometric techniques have been used in order to identify compounds present in the pyrolysis mixture: comparison of electron impact and chemical ionisation spectra, high resolution accurate mass measurements and tandem mass spectrometry (daughter and parent ion spectra). The results obtained indicate that intramolecular exchange reactions predominate in the primary thermal fragmentation processes yielding cyclic oligomers up to tetramer. No other pyrolysis products were detectable under our experimental conditions. PEO, prepared by condensation polymerisation, was shown by 1H-NMR to contain up to 7% of diethyleneglycol (DEG) units along the polymer chain. A small amount of cyclic oligomers containing DEG units was detected among the pyrolysis products from PEO.
Published Version
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