The Elucidation of Peroxyl Radical Reactions in Aqueous Solution with the Help of Radiation-Chemical Methods

Whenever free radicals are formed, independent of whether this occurs thermally, is induced by UV or ionizing irradiation, or takes place in redox reactions, they are converted rapidly into the corresponding peroxyl radicals in the presence of oxygen. Peroxyl radical reactions in aqueous environments are observed not only in aquatic systems (e.g., rivers, lakes and oceans) but also in the living cell and to a considerable degree even in the atmosphere (in water droplets). The peroxyl radical chemistry occurring in this medium is often very different from that observed in the gas phase or in organic solvents. In spite of the great importance of these reactions in medicine (for example in anti-cancer irradiation therapy and ischaemia) there have been comparatively few studies of peroxyl reactions in aqueous media. Radiation-chemical techniques such as pulse radiolysis offer the best means for carrying out such studies, so that it is not surprising that the majority of the information available in this area has been obtained with the help of radiation-chemical methods. The radiation chemistry of water can be con trolled in such a manner that the main products are ^˙OH radicals (90 % yield), which react with substrate molecules to give substrate radicals and in the presence of oxygen to give substrate peroxyl radicals. The experimental conditions can also be varied in such a way that HO/O radicals can be formed in 100 % yield and caused to react with substrates. We therefore have a simple access to these intermediates, which are extremely important in biological systems. A detailed product analysis, supported by kinetic studies carried out with the help of pulse radiolysis, has been used to clarify the chemistry of a series of peroxyl radicals, so that sufficient material is now available to justify a review of the variety of the peroxyl radical reactions studied by means of radiation-chemical methods. A more general survey of the physical properties of the peroxyl radicals and their unimolecular and bimolecular reactions will be followed by a discussion of selected examples of various classes of substance. Because of the great biological importance of radical-induced DNA damage this area will also be treated briefly.     

A common carbanion intermediate in the recombination and proton-catalysed disproportionation of the carboxyl radical anion, CO2*-, in aqueous solution

The carboxyl radical anion, CO2*- was produced by the reactions of OH radicals with either CO or formic acid in aqueous solution. The pKa(*CO2H) was determined by pulse radiolysis with conductometric detection at pH approximately equals 2.3. The bimolecular decay rate constant of CO2*- (2k approximately equals 1.4 x 10(9) dm3mol(-1)s(-1)) was found to be independent of pH in the range 3-8 at constant ionic strength. The yields of the products of the bimolecular decay of the carboxyl radicals, CO2 and the oxalate anion were found to depend strongly on the pH of the solution with an inflection point at pH 3.8. This pH dependence is explained by assuming a head-to-tail recombination of the CO2*- radicals followed by either rearrangement to oxalate or a protonation of the adduct, which subsequently leads to the formation of CO2 and formate. The recombination of CO2*- to give oxalate directly is estimated to have a contribution of <25%.     

HO2 ELIMINATION FROM α-HYDROXYALKYLPEROXYL RADICALS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract— In aqueous solutions α-hydroxyalkylperoxyl radicals undergo a spontaneous and a base catalysed HO₂ elimination. From kinetic deuterium isotope effects, temperature dependence, and the influence of solvent polarity it was concluded that the spontaneous reaction occurs via an HO₂ elimination followed by the dissociation of the latter into H⁺ and O₂^-. The rate constant of the spontaneous HO₂ elimination increases with increasing methyl substitution in α-position ( k (CH₂(OH)O₂) < 10s^-1 k (CH₃CH(OH)O₂) = 52s^-1 k ((CH₃)₂C(OH)O₂) = 665 s^-1). The OH^- catalysed reaction is somewhat below diffusion controlled. The mixture of peroxyl radicals derived from polyhydric alcohols eliminate HO₂ at two different rates. Possible reasons for this behaviour are discussed. The mixture of the six peroxyl radicals derived from d -glucose are observed to eliminate HO₂ with at least three different rates. The fastest rate is attributed to the HO₂ elimination from the peroxyl radical at C-l ( k > 7000s^-1). Because of the HO₂ eliminations the peroxyl radicals derived from d -glucose do not undergo a chain reaction in contrast to peroxyl radicals not containing an α-OH group. In competition with the first order elimination reactions the α-hydroxylalkylperoxyl radicals undergo a bimolecular decay. These reactions are briefly discussed.     

The UV photolysis (λ = 185 nm) of liquid t-butyl methyl ether

t-Butyl methyl ether has been UV photolysed (λ = 185 nm) to a maximal conversion of less than 0·1%. A study of the products (quantum yields) has been made: methanol (0·40₅), t-butanol (0·20), isobutene (0·17₈), t-butyl neopentyl ether (0·14₂), t-butyl ethyl ether (0·13₄), 1,2-di-t-butoxyethane (0·097), methane (0·056), isobutane (0·046), isopropenyl methyl ether (0·030), hydrogen (0·020), neopentane (0·016), ethane (0·015), formaldehyde (0·012), 2-methoxy-2-methyl-4-t-butoxybutane (0·005), hexamethylethane (0·0048), 2-methoxy-2-methylbutane (0·0027), 2-methoxy-2-methyl-3-t-butoxypropane (0·002), isopropyl methyl ether (0·0015), formaldehyde t-butyl methyl acetal (0·001), formaldehyde di-t-butyl acetal (0·001), 2-methoxy-2-methyl-4,4-dimethylpentane (0-001), 2-methoxy-2-methyl-3,3-dimethylbutane (0·0003), 2,5-dimethoxy-2,5-dimethylhexane (0·0002), di-t-butyl ether (5 · 10^?5), 2,2-dimethyloxirane (?, <- 0·001). There is no decomposition of the t-BuO radical into acetone (< 5 · 10^?4) and CH₃. Cyclisation reactions leading to α,α-dimethyloxetane (< 10^?4) and 1-methoxy-1-methylcyclopropane (< 10^?4) do not occur. The material balance yields C₅H_11·97O_1·018.The main modes of fragmentation (ca 82%) are represented by the homolytic CO bond split, either into t-butyl and methoxy (ca 52%) or into t-butoxy and methyl (ca 30%), Fragmentation into methanol and isobutene (8·5%) as well as into formaldehyde and isobutane (2%) are further modes of decomposition. The break of a CC linkage (4·5%) mainly occurs by elimination of molecular methane. A CH bond split has a probability of ca 3% with the methoxy CH bond the more likely one to break.     

Monte Carlo Simulations of Observation Time-Dependent Self-Diffusion in Porous Media Models

Observation time-dependent self-diffusion coefficients can be used to obtain microstructural information of porous media. This paper presents two different kinds of Monte Carlo simulations of the self diffusion process of fluids like water in porous systems, a lattice-free method and a lattice-based method. The results for simple porous media model geometries agree well with each other and with published analytical as well as semi-analytical equations. The use of these equations, which are important for the interpretation of Pulsed Field Gradient-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (PFG-NMR) time-dependent diffusion data with respect to properties of porous media, is discussed.     

NMR on emulsions: characterisation of liquid dispersed systems

Pulsed field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) is an important method for the characterisation of emulsions. Apart from its application in quality control and process development, especially high-field NMR methods can be applied to investigate emulsions properties on the molecular level. Meanwhile, complex emulsion structures such as double emulsions have been developed and require analytical tools especially for the determination of droplet size distributions. This contribution provides an overview on the possibilities and methods of PFG-NMR referring to measurement, data processing and interpretation of droplet size distributions. Comparison of techniques and measurements on double emulsions are presented.     

The pyrolysis of acetaldehyde in the presence of nitric oxide

The kinetics of the acetaldehyde pyrolysis have been studied at temperatures from 450° to 525°C, at an acetaldehyde pressure of 176 torr and at 0 to 40 torr of added nitric oxide. The following products were identified and their rates of formation measured: CH₄, H₂, CO, CO₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, H₂O, C₃H₆, C₂H₅CHO, CH₃COCH₃, CH₃COOCH?CH₂, N₂, N₂O, HCN, CH₃NCO, and C₂H₅NCO. Acetaldehyde vapor was found to react with nitric oxide slowly in the dark at room temperature, the products being H₂O, CH₃COOCH₃, CO, CO₂, N₂, NO₂, HCN, CH₃NO₂, and CH₃ONO₂. The rates of formation of N₂ and C₂H₅NCO depend on how long the CH₃CHO-NO mixture is kept at room temperature before pyrolysis; the rates of formation of the other products depend only slightly on the mixing period. The pyrolysis of “clean” CH₃CHO–NO mixtures (i.e., the results extrapolated to zero mixing time, which are independent of products formed in the cold reaction) are interpreted as follows: (1) There are two chain carriers, CH₃ and CH₂CHO, their concentrations being interdependent and influenced by NO in different ways: the CH₃ radical is both generated and removed by reactions directly involving NO, whereas CH₂CHO is generated only indirectly from CH₃ but is also removed by direct reaction with NO. (2) An important mode of initiation by NO is its addition to the carbonyl group with the formation of which is converted into ; this splits off OH with the formation of CH₃NCO or CH₃ + OCN. (3) Important modes of termination are The steady-state equations derived from the mechanism are shown to give a good fit to the experimental rate versus [NO] curves and, in particular, explain why there is enhancement of rate by NO at higher CH₃CHO pressures and, at lower CH₃CHO pressures, inhibition at low [NO] followed by enhancement at higher [NO]. The cold reaction is explained in terms of chain-propagating and chain-branching steps resulting from the addition of several NO molecules to CH₃CHO and the CH₃CO radical. In the “unclean” reaction it is found that the rates of N₂ and C₂N₅NCO formation are increased by CH₃NO₂, CH₃ONO, and CH₃ONO₂ formed during the cold reaction. A mechanism is proposed, involving the participation of α-nitrosoethyl nitrite, CH₃CH(NO)ONO. It is suggested that there are two modes of behavior in pyrolyses in the presence of NO: (1) In the paraffins, ethers, and ketones, the effects are attributed to the addition of NO to a radical with the formation of an oxime-like compound. (2) In the aldehydes and alkenes, where there is a hydrogen atom attached to a double-bonded carbon atom, the behavior is explained in terms of addition of NO to the double bond followed by the formation of an oxime-like species.     

The importance of mesomerism in the termination of alpha-carboxymethyl radicals from aqueous malonic and acetic acids

In the dioxygen-free aqueous malonic and acetic acid systems. alpha-carboxymethyl radicals are produced through hydrogen abstraction from the parent compound by radiolytically generated OH radicals. H abstraction from the CO2-/CO2H group followed by decarboxylation is a process of small importance (< or = 5%). The alpha-carboxymethyl radicals terminate by recombination. Two types of recombination product are observed which are characterised by the formation of a C-C linkage or a C-O linkage. alpha-Carboxymethyl radicals are mesomeric systems. Their mesomeric state depends on the state of protonation and determines the proportion of the C-C- versus C-O-linked dehydrodimers they produce.