Carbonization of Anthracene and Phenanthrene. 1. Kinetics and Mesophase Development

The investigation of the carbonization of anthracene and phenanthrene in microautoclave reactors has shown remarkable differences in the kinetics of formation of insoluble products and the extent of mesophase developed from these compounds. In previous work, single solvents were used to obtain kinetic data on the formation of insolubles. Three different solvents were used simultaneously in this study to monitor the formation of insolubles as a function of the solubility parameter of the solvent used. It is suggested that the differences in the extents of mesophase development from these compounds can be related to the kinetics for the formation of different solvent-insolubles, such as heptane- and toluene-insolubles during carbonization. The differences in carbonization reactivity of anthracene and phenanthrene and in mesophase development from these compounds have been explained using the concept of free valence index.