Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 267-282). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第18296号 / 工博第3888号 / 新制||工||1596(附属図書館) / 31154 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科高分子化学専攻 / (主査)教授 澤本 光男, 教授 中條 善樹, 教授 赤木 和夫 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

Using computational methods, we have investigated the chemistry of 3-phenylpropyl radical systems. These systems are of importance to polymer chemistry as free radical additions involving these species are integral in the production of styrene-containing plastics. Although the addition reactions have been well studied, the other reaction pathways, namely f3-fragmentation and cyclization, have not been as comprehensively studied. As a result, our computational study involved 3-phenylpropyl radical systems that had been systematically mono-substituted at five positions, two on the propyl chain and three on the aromatic ring. This computational analysis consisted of calculation of optimized geometries and energies for reactants, products, and transition states, followed by examination of derived thermochemical quantities (enthalpies of activation and reaction), and critical structural parameters (transition bond lengths and bond angles) of the systems. Finally correlation of structure and reactivity of the various systems was attempted. Density functional theory (DFT) using the B3-LYP functional and the 6-31 G(d) basis set was selected as the level of theory. / Department of Chemistry