Mechanistic Insights into Oxidative Decomposition of exo-Tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene

Abstract

We investigated the decomposition of exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCP, C10H16) in the absence and presence of O-2 at various temperatures. It was found that conversion of exo-THDCP was faster in the presence of O-2 as compared to in its absence. The O-2-induced increase in the conversion of exo-THDCP was hardly affected by variations in temperature. In addition, the O-2-induced increase in the rate of C-10 product formation was higher than those of <C-10 and >C-10. We proposed the mechanism for the oxidative decomposition of exo-THDCP, which occurs independently of its thermal decomposition and induces distinct product formation near and below its thermal decomposition starting temperature.