An experimental study of the homogeneous gas phase oxidation of propane at 350 °C and subatmospheric pressure has been performed in order to identify and to measure the major primary products of the reaction. The experimental results have been interpreted by a chain radical mechanism, deduced from these results and from estimates of the rate constants for the elementary steps obtained by the methods of Thermochemical Kinetics. The proposed elementary steps are discussed and compared with the experimental observations. The results that we have obtained and their interpretation are compared with a similar detailed investigation performed on the oxidation of isobutane. As in the case of isobutane, two parallel reaction pathways appear, a dominant one leading to the conjugated alkene (propylene) and another one leading to the epoxide of this olefin (here propylene oxide). The oxidation of isobutane and that of propane appear to be quite similar, which corroborates the results that we have obtained. Key words: oxidation, kinetics, reaction mechanism, propane, thermochemical kinetics.

A literature survey on the homogeneous gas-phase oxidation of light alkanes shows that despite a rather high number of papers there are still, even in the case of isobutane, an important number of unresolved questions, which makes the writing of a reaction scheme rather difficult. To obtain more reliable experimental data, we have studied the homogeneous gas-phase oxidation of isobutane in a conventional static system, at 310 and 340 °C and subatmospheric pressure. This investigation is chiefly aimed at identifying and measuring the major primary products of the reaction. A chain radical scheme based on the primary products and on estimation of the rate constants of the elementary steps by the methods of Thermochemical Kinetics is put forward to interpret our experimental results. Two major reaction routes appear, one corresponding to the formation of isobutene and the other to the formation of isobutene oxide. The conclusions of the present investigation and suggestions for further developments are also mentioned. Keywords: oxidation, chemical kinetics, reaction mechanism, isobutane.

The determination of aliphatic aldehydes (5 × 10-6 — 2.5 × 10-4 mol) in aqueous solution was achieved by inhibition of the luminol chemiluminescence induced by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of potassium hexacyanoferrate(III).