A gas-phase kinetic study on the thermal decomposition of 2-chloropropene

The gas-phase thermal decomposition of 2-chloropropene in the presence of a radical inhibitor was studied in the temperature range of 668.2–747.2 K and pressure between 11–76 Torr using the conventional static system. The dehydrochlorination to propyne and HCl was the only reaction channel and accounted for >98% of the reaction. The formation of propyne was found to be homogeneous and unimolecular and follows a first-order rate law. The observed rate coefficient is expressed by the following Arrhenius equation: $$ k_{total} = 10^{13.05 pm 0.46} (s^{ - 1} )exp ^{ - 242.6 pm 6.2({{kJ} mathord{left/ {vphantom {{kJ} {mol}}} right. kern-nulldelimiterspace} {mol}})/RT} . $$ The hydrogen halide elimination is believed to proceed through a semipolar four-membered cyclic transition state. The presence of a methyl group on the α-carbon atom lowered the activation energy by 47 kJ mol^?1. The experimentally observed pressure dependence of the rate constant is compared with the theoretically predicted values that are obtained by RRKM calculations.