Thermolysis reaction of 2-acetyl-1-oxo-five-, six-, and seven-membered ring

The rates of gas-phase thermolysis reactions of 2-acetylcyclopentanone 1,2-acetylcyclohexanone 2, N-acetylcaprolactam 3,2-acetylbutyrolactone 4,2-acetyl-2-methylbutyrolactone 5, and 3-acetyl-2-oxazolidinone 6 have been measured over a temperature range of 50 K. They undergo unimolecular first-order elimination reactions for which log A = 11.7, 11.7, 11.2, 11.4, 11.5, and 11.1 s^?1 and E_a = 193.4, 189.5, 153.2, 201.0, 206.8, and 176.1 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The effect of the ring size together with the effect of a heteroatom in the ring on the rate of thermolysis reactions for compound 1–6 is the subject of this work. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.