Transformations of propene under the action of hydrogen chloride and oxygen at CuCl/sub 2/-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ catalyst

By ESR in conjunction with the freezing out of the radicals during the oxidative chlorination of propene it was shown that allyl radicals are mostly formed as a result of the transfer of a chlorine atom from the copper(II) chloride, deposited on ..cap alpha..-aluminum oxide, to the substrate. The direct introduction of the catalyst into the resonance cavity with or without the delivery of hydrogen chloride and oxygen led to the superimposition of the spectra of C/sub 3/H/sub 5/ radicals and paramagnetic copper ions. The variation of the concentration of the allyl radicals as a function of temperature is extremal in nature. The kinetic parameters of the elementary reactions C/sub 3/H/sub 6/ + Cl ..cap alpha.. C/sub 3/H/sub 5/ + HCl and C/sub 3/H/sub 6/ + CuCl/sub 2/ ..-->.. C/sub 3/H/sub 5/ + HCl + CuCl were determined. The activation energies of these reactions amount to 4.2 and 2.5 kJ/mole respectively.