The pyrolysis of neopentane at small extents of reaction

Abstract

AbstractThe pyrolysis of neopentane, at small extents of reaction, was studied by gas chromatography, in Pyrex reaction vessels between 450° and 530°C and in the initial pressure range 25–200 mm Hg. At initial time, this thermal decomposition can be essentially represented by a homogeneous long‐chain radical mechanism. The rate constant of the unimolecular initiation process is approximately given by the expression The initial rate constant of the global reaction (order 3/2) is nearly equal to This reaction is strongly inhibited by propene or isobutene and self‐inhibited by the isobutene formed; an interpretation of all these inhibition phenomena of the neopentane pyrolysis is proposed. Our observations and conclusions, which have been summarized in communications during 1968 and 1969, are compared to those of other authors, particularly to the recent ones of Purnell and colleagues [13] and of Taylor and colleagues [14], [15].