Revisiting the polyvinylidene fluoride heterogeneous alkaline reaction mechanism in propan-2-ol: An additional hydrogenation step

The reaction between polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers and sodium hydroxide in the presence of propan-2-ol (IPA) as phase transfer catalyst (PTC) was studied. In this work, we propose a new reaction mechanism for the formation of the conjugate structure. FTIR and Raman spectra were analyzed with a focus on symmetry basics, which subsequently lead to a clear structure determination and imply that there is in fact an additional hydrogenation step to the dehydrofluorination mechanism previously reported. Sodium isopropylalcoholate catalyzes the Csp2-F bond cleavage in a transfer hydrogenation step and results in the formation of Csp2-H bond, a mechanism supported by the presence of acetone. These findings are of particular importance to PVDF alkaline reaction, it indicates that the use of IPA as PTC alter the reaction mechanism.

Automated summary

The study proposes a new mechanism for the PVDF alkaline reaction and indicates the influence of IPA on the reaction. Sodium isopropylalcoholate catalyzes the bond cleavage and formation in the reaction, which is of significant importance for PVDF nanofiber synthesis.