Effect of boiling on the radiolysis of acetylacetone

The radiolysis of acetylacetone was studied at 295 and 413 K (boiling point) using 3 MeV electron beam. The degradation yield of acetylacetone increases from 0.57 (295 K) to 0.90 (413 K) μmol J−1. Boiling promotes the decay of hydrogen bonds and easier structural relaxation of heavy intermediates, which favors the redistribution of H atoms and a decrease in the probability of C–OH bond cleavages. Acetic acid and acetone are the main fragmentation products. However, the light fragmentation products represent only about 1/3 of the total mass of the final products. The main heavier products are 4-oxopent-2-en-2-yl acetate (0.073 μmol J−1) at 295 K and 4-hydroxy-2-pentanone (0.235 μmol J−1) at 413 K. Boiling conditions favor the variety of isomeric forms of radical combination products. In particular, the dimerization products of acetonyl are hexa-2,4-diene-2,5-diol and hexane-2,5-dione. •The boiling state stimulates the radiolytic degradation of acetylacetone.•Unlike C–H and O–H bonds, C–OH bonds are more stable under boiling conditions.•The boiling state facilitates intermolecular proton transfer to form alcohol.•The isomeric composition of the products is more diverse under boiling conditions.