Study of thermal decomposition of poly(vinyl chloride) type polymers with the use of model substances—IV: Gas phase pyrolysis of 2-acetoxy-4-chloropentane

The kinetics of the gas phase pyrolysis were investigated for 2-acetoxy-4-chloropentane, the simplest model for the macromolecule of VC-VAc copolymer; both manometric and GLC method were used. It was concluded that the elimination of the first acid molecule from the model is a homogeneous unimolecular first order reaction with rate constants within the range 310–350° given by: log k₁ = (13·14 ± 0·17)—(44·9 ± 0·5)/2·303 RT for the iso and log k₁ = (13·23 + 0·15)—(44·9 ± 0·4)/2·303 RT for the syndio isomer. (Frequency factors in sec^?1 units, activation energies in kcal mol^?1.)Application of the results to the copolymer leads to the conclusion that the pronounced minimum observed by some authors in the plot of thermal stability against copolymer composition cannot be adequately explained solely in terms of the low thermal stability of an alternating unit.