Reinvestigation of the Deceptively Simple Reaction of Toluene with OH and the Fate of the Benzyl Radical: The "Hidden" Routes to Cresols and Benzaldehyde.

ABSTRACT: In a previous work, we have investigated the initial steps of the reaction of toluene with the hydroxyl radical using several quantum chemical approaches including density functional and composite post-Hartree-Fock models. Comparison of H-abstraction from the methyl group and additions at different positions of the phenyl ring showed that the former reaction channel is favored at room temperature. This conclusion appears at first sight incompatible with the experimental observation of a lower abundance of the product obtained from abstraction (benzaldehyde) with respect to those originating from addition (cresols). Further reactions of the intermediate radicals with oxygen, water, and additional OH radicals are explored in this paper through theoretical calculations on more than 120 specie

SUBMITTER: Salta Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8008427 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature