Premium
Kinetics of alkali‐catalyzed m ‐cresol‐formaldehyde reaction
Author(s) -
Malhotra H. C.,
Gupta V. K.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1978.070220203
Subject(s) - formaldehyde , reaction rate constant , catalysis , arrhenius equation , chemistry , kinetics , alkali metal , entropy of activation , reaction rate , order of reaction , cresol , rate equation , thermodynamics , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , activation energy , phenol , physics , quantum mechanics
The alkali‐catalyzed reaction of m ‐cresol with formaldehyde carried out at 65°, 70°, 75° and 80°C and at pH 7, 8, 9, 9.4, and 10 follows second‐order kinetics. The rate is found to increase with increase of pH. The overall rate constant ( k ) has been resolved into stepwise rate constants ( k 1 , k 2 , and k 3 ) for the formation of monomethylol, dimethylol, and trimethylol cresol, respectively. For this purpose, the rate equations for the various possible steps have been given and the concentrations of the various methylol cresols formed determined. The experimental and calculated values of k at pH 10 and temperatures of 65°, 70°, and 80°C have been found to agree well within the experimental errors. Entropy of activation and the Arrhenius parameters for the overall reaction have also been calculated.