Method for Preparing Polyperoxydicarbonate Esters

A solution of 8.0 g. (0.1 mole) Na.sub.2 O.sub.2 in 75 ml. of cold water was cooled while it was diluted with 50 ml. of methanol. Cooling was continued while 10 g. (0.09 mole) of ethyl chloroformate was added over 10 minutes. The reaction mixture was stirred at 0.degree. to 5.degree.C. for another ten minutes and then 5 g. (0.025 mole) of diethylene glycol bischloroformate was added over 15 minutes at -10.degree.C. The mixture was stirred for an additional 15 minutes at -10.degree. to 0.degree.C. and then it was extracted with ether at 0.degree.C. The ether extract was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and evaporated under nitrogen at 0.degree.C. to yield 4 g. of clear colorless oil. This product was identified as oxydiethylenebis(ethyl peroxydicarbonate) by treating a sample with aqueous sodium iodide and titrating the liberated iodine.

The proportions of the reactants of the foregoing example were varied to obtain the corresponding trifunctional peroxydicarbonate ester. A solution of 24 g. (0.6 mole) NaOH in a mixture of 250 ml. of water and 150 ml. of methanol was cooled to 5.degree.C. and 34 g. (0.3 mole) of 30% H.sub.2 O.sub.2 was added. The cooled solution was stirred while 20 g. (0.18 mole) of ethyl chloroformate was added and stirring was continued for an additional 30 minutes. At this point, 20 g. (0.09 mole) of diethylene glycol bischloroformate was added dropwise over a period of 30 minutes while maintaining the temperature of the reaction mixture at 5.degree.C. The mixture was stirred for another 30 minutes at the same temperature and then it was extracted with cold benzene. The benzene extract was dried and evaporated as before to obtain 8 g. of clear, colorless oil which was identified by iodine titration and by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis as the diethyl ester of bis(diethylene glycol) tris(peroxydicarbonate).

A solution of 16 g. (0.2 mole) of Na.sub.2 O.sub.2 in a mixture of 150 ml. of water and 100 ml. of methanol was maintained at 5.degree. to 10.degree.C. while 20 g. of isopropyl chloroformate was added dropwise over 15 minutes and the final mixture was stirred for another 15 minutes at that temperature. Then 10 g. (0.04 mole) of 1,6-hexanediol bis(chloroformate) was added in 15 minutes and the mixture was stirred for an hour at 5.degree. to 10.degree.C. The reaction mixture was extracted with ether and the extract evaporated as in Example 1 to obtain 9 g. of clear, colorless oil. This was identified by iodine titration as the expected diisopropyl ester of hexamethylenebis(peroxydicarbonate).

Using the procedure described in Examples 1-3, sodium alkyl peroxycarbonates are prepared and reacted with the bischloroformates of aliphatic diols as previously defined to obtain the dialkyl esters of the corresponding bisperoxydicarbonates. By including sodium peroxide or other such inorganic peroxide and varying the molar proportions of this and the diol bischloroformate according to the empirical equation set forth above, trisperoxydicarbonates, tetrabisperoxydicarbonates, and higher polyfunctional peroxydicarbonates are obtained as desired. For practical reasons, proportions of reactants are limited to those required to make polyperoxydicarbonates where n in the general formula has a maximum value of four. Compounds with a higher value of n can of course be prepared, but problems of completing the reaction and practical isolation of a reasonably uniform product make these materials of only theoretical interest.