No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The products of the pyrolytic decomposition of some even chain-length copper (II) carboxylates from decanoate to octadecanoate inclusive have been identified, using a flow system, to be copper, carbon dioxide, a carboxylic acid and an odd chain-mength alkene. These products are similar to those reported for the decomposition of mercury(lI) carboxylates. The unexpectedly low (less than unity) CO2/soa p ratio was attributed to the reduction of the CO 2 to carbon monoxide. The carboxylic acid was characterised by wet chemical tests, determining the melting points of the acid and its amide derivative and matching its IR spectrum with that of the authentic acid. Elemental analysis and wet chemical tests were employed for the identification of the alkene.The products of decomposition and mechanism proposed to account for the degradative route of the systems show that good quality thin solid copper oxide films may only be obtained from the decomposition of copper(II), carboxylates if the carrier gas is non-inert (e.g. oxygen).Most of the previous studies in this laboratory [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and elsewhere [9-11] on metal carboxylates (soaps) have focussed attention mainly on their physical properties in the molten phase. For example, in our laboratory, the electrical conductivity, viscosity and heat of phase changes of lead [1,3,6]

No abstract