Professor Laura McCunn received a three-year, $75,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund to study “Pyrolysis Reactions of Polyvinylchloride Derivatives.” The objective of this project is to elucidate how chemical structure affects the pyrolysis reactions of chlorinated hydrocarbons that are produced during the pyrolysis of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic derived from petroleum. (Pyrolysis involves heating compounds to decomposition in the absence of oxygen.) A specific aim of the proposed work is to identify the thermal decomposition products of several chlorinated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, including (2-chloroethyl)-benzene, 2-chlorophenol, 2-chloro-2-methylpentane, and 3-chloro-3-methylpentane. A second specific aim of the proposed work will examine high-temperature reactions in a mixture of furan and chlorobenzene, representative of chemical species produced from pyrolysis of biomass and PVC, respectively. Congratulations, Dr. McCunn!