Thermal Degradation and Bimolecular Decomposition of 2-Ethoxyethanol in Binary Ethanol and Isobutanol Solvent Mixtures: A Computational Mechanistic Study

Abstract

A thorough computational study of a thermal degradation mechanism of 2-ethoxyethanol (2-EE) in the gas phase has been implemented using G3MP2 and G3B3 methods. The stationary point geometries were optimized at the B3LYP functional utilizing the 6-31G(d) basis set. Intrinsic reaction coordinate analysis was performed to determine the transition states on the potential energy surfaces. Nineteen primary different reaction mechanisms, along with the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, are demonstrated. Most of the thermal degradation mechanisms result in a concerted transition state step as an endothermic process. Among 11 degradation pathways of 2-ethoxyethanol, the formation of ethylene glycol and ethylene is kinetically significant with an activation energy of 269 kJ mol–1 at the G3B3 method. However, the kinetic and thermodynamic calculations indicate that ethanol and ethanal’s formation is the most plausible reaction with an activation barrier of 287 kJ mol–1 at the G3B3 method. For the bimolecular dissociation reaction of 2-ethoxyethanol with ethanol, the pathway that produces ether, H2, and ethanol is more likely to occur with a lower activation energy of 221 kJ mol–1 at the G3B3 method. Thus, 2-EE has experienced a set of complex unimolecular and bimolecular reactions.