High-Pressure-Induced Planarity of the Molecular Arrangement in Maleic Anhydride

Abstract

Maleic anhydride, an industrially important chemical, was investigated by conducting in situ high-pressure Raman scattering and synchrotron angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction (ADXRD) experiments at a pressure of up to 1.0 GPa. Drastic discontinuities of Raman modes at 0.5 GPa indicated that a phase transition occurred when pressure was elevated. This transformation is further discussed by analysis of the ADXRD results. The Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns of the recovered samples indicated that this pressure-induced transformation is reversible. The calculated results by the first-principle method indicated that the pressure-induced planarity of molecular arrangement is the mechanism of this transition. This study shows that the pressure-induced phase transition of maleic anhydride at 0.5 GPa is derived from supramolecular rearrangements