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8370401 
Journal Article 
The pyrolysis of chloroalkenes. Part IV. The radicalchain decomposition of the 1: 2-dichloroethylenes 
Goodall, AM; Howlett, KE 
1956 
Yes 
Journal of the Chemical Society
ISSN: 0368-1769 
3074-3078 
English 
In the temperature range 370-480° cis- and trans-1 : 2-dichloroethylene decompose chiefly by a radical-chain mechanism to monochloroacetylene and hydrogen chloride. No kinetic distinction can be made between the pyrolyses of the two isomers because the effective reactant is an equilibrated mixture. The rate of dehydrochlorination is considerably reduced by the addition of small amounts of propene, n-hexane, or n-pentane, but it is not appreciably influenced by the reaction products. Reproducible induction periods are observed. These are dependent on the temperature, concentration, and available surface area. The reaction order is uniformly 1-6 in a packed reaction vessel but between 1 and 1-5 in an empty vessel. A mechanism is proposed which accounts for these features. The quantitative importance of the observations on induction periods is stressed.