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Oxidized Derivatives of n-Hexane from a Water/Argon Continuous Flow Electrical Discharge Plasma Reactor

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Abstract

A non-thermal continuous flow plasma reactor with a liquid water stream and argon carrier gas is shown to convert n-hexane and water into alcohols, alkenes, ketones, hydroperoxides, alpha-hydroxy-ketones and diketones. Fragmented (short chain) primary alcohols, fragmented aldehydes and fragmented carboxylic acids are also formed. The variation of the supply voltage and oxygen concentration allows moderate fine-tuning of yield and selectivity of this organic “diversity-oriented” synthetic process. A (pH based) procedure for rapid separation of the organic hydroperoxides has been developed. Computationally determined thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of several reaction pathways support their feasibility. The construction of a mechanistic pathway map was accomplished, providing deeper insight into this radical and plasma based transformation process.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation (CBET 1236225).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Stefan Bresch & Igor Alabugin

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Robert Wandell, Huihui Wang & Bruce R. Locke

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  1. Stefan Bresch
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  4. Igor Alabugin
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Igor Alabugin or Bruce R. Locke.

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Bresch, S., Wandell, R., Wang, H. et al. Oxidized Derivatives of n-Hexane from a Water/Argon Continuous Flow Electrical Discharge Plasma Reactor. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 36, 553–584 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-015-9686-x

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