Mechanism of the Pyrolysis of 3-Bromopentane

The gas-phase dehydrobromination of 3-bromopentane has been shown to be a homogeneous first-order reaction, unaffected by the presence of cyclohexene. The rate constants follow the Arrhenius equation k₁= 10^{13 · 51} exp(-45,440/RT). These observations are consistent with a molecular mechanism but not with the chain mechanism for bromide pryolysis proposed by Wojciechowski and Laidler.