Influence of the aryl substituent identity in 4-arylamino-3-nitrocoumarins on their thermal behavior

Thermal behavior of structurally similar 4-arylamino-3-nitrocoumarin derivatives substituted with different electron-donor and electron-acceptor substituents on the aryl side group was investigated. The thermal stability of these compounds was studied by non-isothermal thermo-gravimetric analysis, differential thermo-gravimetry, differential thermal analysis, and pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The thermal degradation of the three synthesized 4-arylamino-3-nitrocoumarins, possessing an iodine atom, a nitro or a methyl group, proceeds in three steps. The thermal stability of the coumarin derivative with the electron-donating methyl substituent is lower than that of the compounds with the electron-accepting nitro group or iodine atom. This least stable compound (4-(4-methylphenyl)amino]-3-nitro-2H-chromen-2-one) was also characterized with the greatest loss in mass that accompanied the degradation, and all of the three degradation steps of this compound began at the lowest temperature in comparison to the other two.