John Yves G.

Lubrico October 23, 2020

Pet. Eng. Block 1A

Free Radical Chlorination

Procedures:
1. The free-radical chlorination of 1-chlorobutane resulted from three activating steps. The
formation of 2,2-azobis'/cyclohexanenitrile as a free radical was the first step with the
addition of heat. This substance is used to build a catalytic volume of an initiator under
mild conditions. In this endothermic reaction, two sigma bonds between the cyclic
compounds dissociate, yielding free radicals. As a result of the initiation process, free-
radical chlorine is formed, which is used for propagation. If the system didn't get energy
from its surroundings, this reaction would not happen. This is a common phenomenon for
free-radical reactions.

2. During the propagation process, dichlorobutane products are produced. The free-radical
chlorine atom from the initiation stage acts as a catalyst in the reaction. It is consumed in
the first phase of propagation, but it is produced in the second. The generation of a free-
radical chlorine is critical in the second stage of propagation. As a consequence,
propagation will continue, resulting in the creation of a new product molecule. This chain
reaction will continue until the reactant concentration is depleted or until side reactions
consume the remaining free radicals.

3. When these intermediates are consumed, the production of new free radicals is inhibited.
The termination steps either slow or stop the chain reaction. Any two free-radicals
combined will decrease the number of free-radicals in the system and prevent new free-
radicals from being catalytically converted. At the start of the chlorination of 1-
chlorobutane, the concentration of any free radicals is very low. Any of the free radicals
coming into contact with each other and combining in a termination step is highly
unlikely. A propagation process is more likely to occur when one of the free radicals
comes into contact with a reactant molecule.
Results:
The addition of an initiator to free-radical chlorination converted 1-chlorobutane into
dichlorobutane products, resulting in the homolytic cleavage of chlorine atoms from sulfuryl
chloride. Initiation, propagation, and termination are the three phases of the reaction's overall
mechanism. The statistical factor and an energy factor decide the relative amounts of each
substance. The strength of the broken carbon-hydrogen bond determines the energy factor. The
higher percentage of the 1,3-dichlorobutane product is due to the higher relative rate of reactivity
of the two hydrogens present on the third carbon.