Reaction of Unsaturated Organic Compounds with Tritium Gas

Abstract

The incorporation of tritium into saturated and aromatic organic compounds by the Wilzbach gas exposure method has been explained on the basis of reactions between ionized or excited organic molecules and tritium [1]. In the presently reported work, substitution^† occurred in saturated fatty acid esters, but addition^† was the principal reaction in higher unsaturated fatty acid esters [2]. These results suggested that varying amounts of addition and substitution of tritium might take place with different types of olefinic systems. Thus, a number of compounds representative of the more common structural types, such as methyl oleate, methyl linolenate, methyl sorbate, methyl stearolate, cyclohexene, isobutylene, cholesterol, and vitamin A acetate, were irradiated with tritium gas. The tritium incorporated either by substitution and addition or by addition only is largely determined by the substituents attached to the carbon-carbon double bond or bonds [3].

Presented at the Second Symposium on Advances in Tracer Applications of Tritium, 1958.