A kinetic and mechanistic investigation of the alcoholysis of phenyl isocyanate using 1-propanol as the alcohol was undertaken. A molecular mechanism of urethane formation in both alcohol and isocyanate excess is explored using a combination of an accurate fourth generation Gaussian thermochemistry (G4MP2) with the Solvent Model Density (SMD) implicit solvent model. These mechanisms were analyzed from an energetic point of view. According to the newly proposed two-step mechanism for isocyanate excess, allophanate is an intermediate towards urethane formation via six-centered transition state (TS) with a reaction barrier of 62.6 kJ/mol in the THF model. In the next step, synchronous 1,3-H shift between the nitrogens of allophanate and the cleavage of the C–N bond resulted in the release of the isocyanate and the formation of a urethane bond via a low-lying TS with 49.0 kJ/mol energy relative to the reactants. Arrhenius activation energies of the stoichiometric, alcohol excess and the isocyanate excess reactions were experimentally determined by means of HPLC technique. The activation energies for both the alcohol (measured in our recent work) and the isocyanate excess reactions were lower compared to that of the stoichiometric ratio, in agreement with the theoretical calculations.

Polyurethanes (PUs) are widely used in different applications, and thus various synthetic procedures including one or more catalysts are applied to prepare them. For PU foams, the most important catalysts are nitrogen-containing compounds. Therefore, in this work, the catalytic effect of eight different nitrogen-containing catalysts on urethane formation will be examined. The reactions of phenyl isocyanate (PhNCO) and methanol without and in the presence of catalysts have been studied and discussed using the G3MP2BHandHLYP composite method. The solvent effects have also been considered by applying the SMD implicit solvent model. A general urethane formation mechanism has been proposed without and in the presence of the studied catalysts. The proton affinities (PA) were also examined. The barrier height of the reaction significantly decreased (∆E₀ > 100 kJ/mol) in the presence of the studied catalysts, which proves the important effect they have on urethane formation. The achieved results can be applied in catalyst design and development in the near future.

The alcoholysis of phenyl isocyanate (PhNCO) using stoichiometric butan-1-ol (BuOH) in acetonitrile in the presence of different cyclic amine catalysts was examined using a combined kinetic and mechanistic approach. The molecular mechanism of urethane formation without and in the presence of cyclic amine catalysts was studied using the G3MP2BHandHLYP composite method in combination with the SMD implicit solvent model. It was found that the energetics of the model reaction significantly decreased in the presence of catalysts. The computed and measured thermodynamic properties were in good agreement with each other. The results prove that amine catalysts are important in urethane synthesis. Based on the previous and current results, the design of new catalysts will be possible in the near future.

Kinetic parameters of phenyl isocyanate–monoalcohol reactions has been studied using a microreactor system. The monoalcohol components were propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol, propan-2-ol and butan-2-ol. The reactions were conducted in alcohol/THF mixed solvent under pseudo-first-order circumstances at various temperatures. The reaction mixtures were analyzed by off-line HPLC. Reaction rate constants and apparent activation energies have been determined with good precision. The reaction rate constants were higher for the primary alcohols than for the secondary alcohols. Higher apparent activation energy was found for the secondary alcohols compared to the primary ones. The applied technique provides a simple way to study the effects of various factors (e.g. structure of the isocyanate and the alcohol, temperature, solvents, concentration of reagents, catalysis) on the kinetics of the isocyanate–alcohol reactions.

A kinetic and mechanistic investigation of the alcoholysis of phenyl isocyanate (PhNCO) using stoichiometric butan-1-ol (BuOH) in acetonitrile in the presence of different tertiary amine catalysts was performed. The reaction mechanisms in the absence and presence of experimentally applied catalysts were described by using the G3MP2BHandHLYP composite method. The apparent activation energies obtained from the calculations were in good agreement with the experimental data (ΔΔE = <2 kJ mol⁻¹). Both experimental and theoretical results proved the important effect of tertiary amine catalysts on urethane formation. These results can aid in polyurethane catalyst design and development.