The thermal decomposition and analyses of metal tris-acetylacetonates: Free radical formation from Al, Cr, Mn, Fe and Co complexes

In earlier work, we studied the phase transitions of a number of metal(III) acetylacetonates using thermal analysis (DSC) and coupled that with solid-state single crystal X-ray structures. From these studies, we found it necessary to explore the complexes of Al(III), Cr(III), Mn(III), Fe(III) and Co(III) in more detail. In the process of examining the extant data on the tris-metal acetylacetonates, we discovered that there were a broad range of applications in which those substances seem to have interesting and unusual properties, including thermal and radiation sensitivity, resulting in the formation of radicals which were documented to be useful in the initiation and promotion of polymerization, etc. Thus, we decided to combine our synthetic and crystallization experience with thermal studies (e.g., DSC, MS and TG) in an attempt to document the nature of metal tris-acetylacetonates and their thermalization products between room temperature and their decomposition temperatures.