Evolution of H2O and CO2 during the copper-catalyzed oxidation of isotactic polypropylene

The kinetics and mechanism of H₂O and CO₂ evolution during uncatalyzed and copper(oxide)-catalyzed (Cu, CuO, CuO_0.67) oxidation of isotactic polypropylene have been investigated in detail for various catalysts over a range of temperatures (90–150°C). These volatiles were determined chromatographically; H₂O and CO₂ represent the main volatiles of the oxidation, comprising about 80 mol % of all volatiles. Uncatalyzed oxidation evolves ca. 1 mol of H₂O and 1 mol of CO₂ for each unit mole of polymer oxidized, while catalyzed oxidation produces 2 mol of H₂O and ca. 1.2 mol of CO₂ for each unit mole of polymer. These results indicate that secondary as well as tertiary H atoms on the polymer chains are involved in hydroperoxide formation and decay. The oxidation mechanism has been formulated and evaluated on this basis. It consists essentially of two parallel oxidation reactions involving tertiary and secondary groups (H atoms and hydroperoxides), respectively. The mechanism can be represented by first- and pseudo-first-order reactions in series: (1) oxygen absorption showing induction periods; (2) hydroperoxide formation and decay (plateaus are reached); (3) H₂O evolution from the decay of hydroperoxides; and (4) subsequent CO₂ production involving chain scission. Arrhenius parameters for all oxidation reactions (uncatalyzed and catalyzed) are also presented. It appears that CuO_0.67 is the most efficient catalyst of those investigated.