Thermal studies on titanyl, zirconyl and hafnyl dithiocarbamato complexes

The dithiocarbamato complexes of titanyl(IV), zirconyl(IV) and hafnyl(IV), abbreviated as MO(S₂CNRR)₂·nH₂O(M=Ti, Zr or Hf, R=H, R′=C₅H₉;R=H, R′=C₇H₁₁, n=1 for Ti and n=2 for Zr and Hf), were prepared in aqueous medium and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility measurements and IR spectral studies. The thermal behaviour of these compounds under non-isothermal conditions was investigated by thermogravimetric, derivative thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimctric techniques in nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres. The intermediates obtained at the end of various thermal decomposition steps were identified on the basis of analyses and IR spectral studies. Kinetic parameters, such as apparent activation energy and order of reaction, were determined by the graphical method of Coats and Redfern. The heats of reaction for the different decomposition steps were calculated from the DSC curves.