The pyrolysis of 1-(3-carboxyphenyl)-2-(4-biphenyl)ethane
(3) has been studied in the liquid
phase at 400 °C neat and diluted in hydrogen-donor and nondonor
solvents to determine the role
of decarboxylation of aromatic carboxylic acids in the cross-linking
processes in low-rank coal.
Decarboxylation was the dominant reaction pathway in the pyrolysis
of this model compound,
and decarboxylation occurred primarily by an acid-promoted ionic
mechanism that does not lead
to cross-linking. However, pyrolysis in a nondonor solvent
produced a small amount of products
containing a new aryl−aryl bond between 3 and the solvent
that represents the formation of a
cross-link associated with the decarboxylation process. These
cross-linked products were found
to be formed by a free-radical pathway and could be decreased by the
addition of H2O or tetralin
to the pyrolysis medium. It is proposed that the cross-linked
products arise from the formation
and subsequent decomposition of anhydrides during the pyrolysis of the
acid. Pyrolysis of di-3,3‘-(2-(4-biphenyl)ethyl)benzoic anhydride and
1-(3-carboxaldehydephenyl)-2-(4-biphenyl)ethane
was investigated to support the proposed free-radical formation of the
cross-linked products. These
results suggest that cross-linking processes in low-rank coals may not
be directly related to the
decarboxylation process but may indirectly result from intermediates
formed from reactions of
the aromatic carboxylic acids.