Radiation chemical reaction of methyl esters of carboxylic acids having long aliphatic chain

ESR studies have been carried out on the radicals produced by γ-irradiation from methyl laurate (ML) and methyl stearate (MS) in solid and adsorbed states. ML and MS adsorbed on oriented films on Na-montmorillonite gave anisotropic ESR spectra which depend on the angle between the plane of the clay films and magnetic field due to the perpendicular orientation of the main chain of the radicals to the alumino-silicate layers of the clay. The most stable radical in both systems was unambiguously assigned to RCHCOOCH3 radical, which was produced from secondary reactions of both O-RC-OCH3 or RC=O and - CH2CHCH2 - radicals. Yields of dimers formed from ML and MS in the bulk, adsorbed and multilayer state were determined tentatively by gaschromatographic analysis. It was found that Na-montmorillonite affects favorably the formation of dimers. (auth.)