Quantum Chemical Study of Thermolysis of t-Butylether

AM1 method has been used to study the thermolysis of t-butylether.The results obtained show that these compounds can decompose into butylene and alcohol or phenols through an elimination involving four-center cyclic transition states. The activation energies of reactions, for R=CH3,CH2CH3,CH(CH3)2,CH2CN,C6H5,p-CH3OC6H4,p-NH2C6H4and p-NO2C6H4 are 248.8, 245.5, 238.5, 216.4, 219.5, 217.9,221.6 and 188.2 kJ/mol,respectively,which are consistent with the experimental values.