Vinyl Chloride Peroxide Explosion in a Vinyl Chloride Recovery Plant

The formation of polymer peroxides by the addition of oxygen to unsaturated organic compounds was described for the first time by Staudinger, taking 1,l-diphenyl ethylene peroxide as an example 1]. In the meantime, numerous other polyperoxides have become known, among them the peroxides of acrylonitrile 2], dimethyl butadiene 3], chloroprene 141, methyl methacrylate 51, styrene 161, vinyl acetate 5], and vinyl chloride 7-10]. Because of the great significance of the aforementioned compounds as monomers in the production of plastic materials, the investigations centered on the influence of oxygen on the polymerization behavior of the monomers and on the properties of the polymers.