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Radical intermediates and stable products in acrolein pyrolysis

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Abstract

Acrolein is a commonly encountered pollutant of health concern, yet the processes that decompose acrolein are poorly understood. Frequently used in industrial synthesis, it is also a byproduct of combustion and other high temperature processes, especially those involving biological substances, e.g., forest fires, deep frying, or cigarette smoke. Despite the need for investigation of the chemical behavior of acrolein at high temperatures, little experimental work exists on decomposition of acrolein using apparatus capable of observing reactive species. Here, the pyrolysis of acrolein was studied at temperatures of up to 1700 K. We identified radicals and other unstable species produced in the early reaction stages, including vinyl radical, methyl radical, and methyl ketene. Detection of these reactive intermediates, and indirect evidence on the formation of others, reveals reaction pathways to stable species, including carbon monoxide, ethylene, and acetylene.

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  • 24 January 2024

    Incorrect sentence In the abstract, the first sentence 'Acrolein is a commonly encountered pollutant of health concern, yet the processes that generate acrolein are poorly understood.’ Correct sentence 'Acrolein is a commonly encountered pollutant of health concern, yet the processes that decompose acrolein are poorly understood’ has been corrected.

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Acknowledgements

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 848668) and from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Grant No. 194/20.

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Author notes

  1. Michael Muzika and Nadav Genossar-Dan have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84105, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Michael Muzika, Nadav Genossar-Dan, Dana Fux, Shani Har Lavan, Uri Zamir, Illya Rozenberg & Joshua H. Baraban

  2. Laboratory for Synchrotron Radiation and Femtochemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland

    Patrick Hemberger

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  1. Michael Muzika
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Contributions

NG-D and JHB were the main contributors to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by NG-D, DF, SHL, UZ, IR and PH. The data analysis was performed by MM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Joshua H. Baraban.

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The original online version of this article was revised: In the original publication of the article, in the Abstract first line “Acrolein is a commonly encountered health hazard and pollutant” and in the reference Chen P was 3p2A2← X2A2incorrectly published, now it has been corrected here.

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Muzika, M., Genossar-Dan, N., Fux, D. et al. Radical intermediates and stable products in acrolein pyrolysis. Environ Chem Lett 22, 491–497 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-023-01661-8

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