Study of the telomerization of ethylene and 1-hexene by butanal through comparative kinetics

The reaction of ethylene and 1-hexene with butanal was studied using tertiary butyl peroxide initiation at 140°C and a hydrostatic pressure in the range of 250–450 kg/cm2. Based on calculated values of the rate constant ratios for the addition reaction of the n-C3H7ĊO radical to ethylene (k0e) and 1-hexene (k0h), we obtained k0e/k0h=3.7 as the rate constant of the decarbonylation reaction of this radical (kd). The partial chain transfer constants were calculated for the ethylene-butanal system as Cn: C1=1.0±0.16; C2=1.0±0.14; C3=0.9±0.23. The results obtained indicate the nucleophilic character of the n-C3H7ĊO radical in these reactions.