Carbon-13 labeling studies of volatile pyrolyzate formation from poly(vinyl chloride)

In this note the preparation and use of 13C-labeled PVC as a tracer compound to study volatile pyrolyzate formation in PVC is described. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been used to measure the 12C/13C distributions in experiments with intimately mixed 12C2-PVC and 13C2-PVC (without additives). It was found that very little, if any, mixing of 12C and 13C occurs in either the aromatic or aliphatic pyrolyzates. This is consistent with recent isotopic labeling experiments conducted by Starnes et al.; it is also consistent with previous studies of deuterium labeling. The results of these 13C-labeling experiments gave considerable new insight into basic pyrolysis mechanisms in PVC