Mechanochemical N-Chlorination Reaction of Hydantoin: In Situ Real-Time Kinetic Study by Powder X-ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy

Mechanochemistry has become a valuable tool for the synthesis of new molecules, especially in the field of organic chemistry. In the present work, we investigate the kinetic profile of the chlorination reaction of N-3-ethyl-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (EDMH) activated and driven by ball milling. The reaction has been carried out using 2 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm ball sizes in a new small custom-made Perspex milling jar. The crystal structure of the starting material EDMH and the 1-chloro-3-ethyl-5,5'-dimethyl hydantoin (CEDMH) chlorination product was solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The reaction was monitored, in situ and in real time, by both powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Our kinetic data show that the reaction progress to equilibrium is similar at all milling ball sizes. The induction period is very short (between 10 and 40 s) when using 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm balls. For the reaction performed with a 2 mm ball, a significantly longer induction period of 9 min was observed. This could indicate that an initial energy accumulation and higher mixing efficiency are necessary before the reaction starts. Using different kinetic models, we found that the amount of powder affected by critical loading conditions during individual impacts is significantly dependent on the ball size used. An almost linear correlation between the rate of the chemical transformations and the ball volume is observed.