Reactions of 2-propanol, 2-butanol, 2-pentanol, 2-hexanol, and 2-octanol wi
th phenylisocyanate were monitored by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The resu
lts show that Raman spectroscopy is as effective as FTIR spectroscopy in fo
llowing urethane reaction kinetics. The activation energies calculated are
10.0, 10.5, 11.9, 12.8, and 14.8 (kcal/mole) for 2-propanol, 2-butanol, 2-p
entanol, 2-hexanol, and 2-octanol reacting with phenylisocyanate without ca
talyst, respectively. The steric hindrance effects of primary, secondary, a
nd tertiary butanol with phenylisocyanate reaction kinetics were observed.
The initial reaction rates of these alcohol systems have a typical ratio of
1:0.3:0.1, respectively. The reaction kinetics simulation, based on a simp
le kinetics model, fits reasonably well with experimental data obtained by
Raman spectroscopy. This agreement further demonstrates the effectiveness o
f Raman spectroscopy in monitoring urethane reaction kinetics and suggests
an effective method for verifying the reaction kinetics and mechanism under
nonisothermal conditions. The results of this work will form the basis for
our future in-situ study of thermoset polymerization kinetics under exposu
re to radio frequency electromagnetic (RF) fields.