Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
6-30-1963
Degree Name
Master of Science in Chemical Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Chemical Engineering
First Advisor
Saul I. Kreps
Second Advisor
Joseph Joffe
Third Advisor
Jerome J. Salamone
Abstract
The reaction between "Lorol" 5 fatty alcohol and epichlorohydrin was found to proceed at a rate which could easily be followed, at temperatures of 80 to 140°C, when catalyzed with 0.05 percent of a boron trifluoride ether-ate catalyst, based on the total weight of reactants. The reaction was followed by determining the decrease in epichlorohydrin concentration with time using standard analytical techniques.
Kinetic studies showed that the fatty alcohol/epichlorohydrin reaction was not a simple pseudo first order or second order reaction but rather a complex one probably composed of:
1. A second order reaction between primary fatty alcohol and epichlorohydrin.
2. A second order reaction involving homopolymerization of epichlorohydrin.
3. A pseudo first order reaction between secondary hydroxyls formed in the first two reactions and
Determination of specific kinetic rate constants and activation energies from experimental reaction time versus epichlorohydrin concentration data, developed using equal molar ratios of reactants at various temperatures, indicated that the overall reaction showed a better correlation with second order than with first order kinetics. This conclusion was supplemented by specific rate constants determined for experiments in which unequal molar ratios of reactants were used. When an excess of the alcohol reactant was present an even better second order fit was obtained than when the reactants were present in equal molar ratios. This apparent second order fit indicates that the second order reaction between primary fatty alcohol and epichlorohydrin was the major reaction of the complex system, at least at the start of the reaction period. Analytical limitations preventing determination of primary and secondary alcohol concentrations prohibit a more complete investigation of the kinetic nature of the overall complex reaction.
Recommended Citation
Schaufelberger, Roy Henry, "A study of the fatty alcohol-epichlorohydrin reaction" (1963). Theses. 2916.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/2916
