TIN OXIDE SURFACES .22. FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED STUDY OF THE THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION OF ORGANOTIN-SUBSTITUTED TIN(IV) OXIDE GELS

Organotin-substituted tin(IV) oxide gels have been obtained by the coh ydrolysis of tin(IV) chloride with the appropriate organotin halide. O n heating, reactions of the organic groups bonded directly to surface tin atoms have been shown to follow two pathways. One involves the con version of the organic group to a surface carboxylate, and the other t he release of both alkane and alkene hydrocarbons into the gas phase. Increasing the Bronsted acidity of the oxide by incorporation of -O-Si -O- linkages promotes butene isomerization in the thermal decompositio n of the n-butyl-substituted gel.