The decomposition of 1,3,5-trioxane at very high temperatures

Abstract

The decomposition of 1,3,5-trioxane has been studied in shock waves by the laser schlieren technique from 900 to 3000 K. Dissociation was observed over the range 950–1270 K, the measurements confirming that formaldehyde is the sole product. An RRKM fit to the measured rates suggests log 10 k ∞(s −1)=(15.86–50.0 kcal/mol)/2.3 RT in this range. The RRKM model predicts rates and falloff in close agreement with previous low temperature studies, and, in agreement with the experiments, predicts large dissociation rates, k>10 6 s −1, above 1350 K, so that this dissociation is well separated from that of its product formaldehyde up to 3000 K.