Cyclic organic peroxides thermal decomposition in the presence of CuFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles

JULIA TASCA; ARACELI LAVAT; KARINA NESPRÍAS; GASTÓN BARRETO; ELIDA ALVAREZ; NORA EYLER; ADRIANA CAÑIZO

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR CATALYSIS A-CHEMICAL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 363 p. 166 - 170

1381-1169

The effect of magnetically recoverable CuFe2O4nanoparticles on thermaldecomposition of acetone and pinacolone cyclicorganic diperoxides, and acetone triperoxide was studied. Ethanol, toluene or ethylbenzene were used as reaction solvents, the initial peroxide concentration was ca. 0.02 mol L−1 and the amount of heterogeneous catalyst added was ca. 0.5 mg mL−1. CuFe2O4nanoparticles, obtained according to the citric acid-aided process, greatly accelerates the thermaldecomposition of methyl substituted cyclicperoxide, but in the case of pinacolone diperoxide only slightly catalytic effects can be detected, probably due to the presence of the bulky tert-butyl substituent in the proximity of the OO bond. This heterogeneously catalyzed reaction can be explained by a free radical mechanism which involves the initiation reaction on the catalyst surface. The products detected (ethane, 2,2-dimethylpropane, ethylbenzene, bibenzyl and 2,3-diphenylbutane) can be interpreted in terms of the initial OO bond homolysis catalyzed by copper ferrites to form an iron peroxo radical species which later undergoes CO and CC bond cleavage. The reduction of the reaction temperature in the styrene and methylmethacrylate polymerization processes could be the main application of the results obtained in the present work, where the thermaldecomposition of multifunctional cyclicperoxides in the presence of copper ferrites can be reached decreasing the working temperatures.