The thermal decomposition of diethyl ether. V. The production of ethanol from diethyl ether and the pyrolysis of ethanol

Abstract

The two modes of decomposition of ethanol at 525 °C, namely dehydration and dehydrogenation, are affected by nitric oxide in a manner similar to the analogous modes of decomposition of diethyl ether. Although the dehydration of ethanol is inhibitable to 30% (analogous ether mode nearly uninhibitable), the dehydrogenation is inhibitable to 2% (analogous ether mode inhibitable to about 25%). The overall reaction is approximately of the first order with respect to the initial ethanol pressure. Large amounts of nitric oxide accelerate the decomposition of ethanol, and a dehydrogenation type reaction is induced to a much greater extent than a dehydration type reaction (as for the analogous modes of ether decomposition). The mechanism is discussed.