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Title: Acid Gas Capture by Nitrogen Heterocycle Ring Expansion
Acid gases including CO2, OCS, CS2, and SO2 are emitted by industrial processes such as natural gas production or power plants, leading to the formation of acid rain and contributing to global warming as greenhouse gases. An important technological challenge is to capture acid gases and transform them into useful products. The capture of CO2, CS2, SO2, and OCS by ring expansion of saturated and unsaturated substituted nitrogen-strained ring heterocycles was computationally investigated at the G3(MP2) level. The effects of fluorine, methyl, and phenyl substituents on N and/or C were explored. The reactions for the capture CO2, CS2, SO2, and OCS by 3- and 4-membered N-heterocycles are exothermic, whereas ring expansion reactions with 5-membered rings are thermodynamically unfavorable. Incorporation of an OCS into the ring leads to the amide product being thermodynamically favored over the thioamide. CS2 and OCS capture reactions are more exothermic and exergonic than the corresponding CO2 and SO2 capture reactions due to bond dissociation enthalpy differences. Selected reaction energy barriers were calculated and correlated with the reaction thermodynamics for a given acid gas. The barriers are highest for CO2 and OCS and lowest for CS2 and SO2. The ability of a ring to participate in acid gas capture via ring expansion is correlated to ring strain energy but is not wholly dependent upon it. The expanded N-heterocycles produced by acid gas capture should be polymerizable, allowing for upcycling of these materials.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2205819
PAR ID:
10519160
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
American Chemical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A
Volume:
127
Issue:
48
ISSN:
1089-5639
Page Range / eLocation ID:
10171-10183
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Chemical reactions Free energy Nitrogen Substitution reactions Thermodynamics
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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