Rapid degradation of cyclic peroxides by titanium and antimony chlorides

Dalton Transactions : an International Journal of Inorganic Chemistry
Mark S BaliAnthony I Day

Abstract

First responders face extraordinary risks when dealing with organic peroxides such as TATP due to the extreme sensitivity of this class of explosives, and to a lack of a robust chemical means of safe and rapid neutralisation. The Lewis acids TiCl4 and SbCl3 have been found to demonstrate a novel degradation mechanism, with TiCl4 degrading a model cyclic peroxide in minutes when used in a two-fold excess, or ∼3 hours at half equivalence. The products cannot re-form peroxide compounds as is the case with acid degradation, suggesting the two mechanisms are fundamentally different. The Lewis acids mediate a rearrangement reaction in the cyclic peroxide backbone leading to relatively innocuous products through deactivation of oxidising O. Sub-stoichiometric TiCl4 reactions highlight a secondary reaction pathway that also leads to some oxidative chlorination products, possibly mediated by an unconfirmed titanium-oxychloride species. SbCl3 was found to exhibit similar reactivity to TiCl4, although at a slower rate. A mechanism is proposed, consistent with the observations for both stoichiometric and sub-stoichiometric quantities of TiCl4.

References

Mar 17, 2004·Inorganic Chemistry·Luigi Cavallo, Heiko Jacobsen
Mar 6, 2008·Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry : RCM·David ArmittSimon Ellis-Steinborner
Mar 1, 1966·Talanta·D H Christopher, T S West
Sep 10, 2009·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Jimmie C OxleyWei Luo
Aug 16, 2011·The Journal of Physical Chemistry. a·Faina DubnikovaYehuda Zeiri
Apr 10, 2014·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Mark S BaliAnthony I Day

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