Oxidation of ETHYLENE to ETHYLENE oxide over silver catalyst and selenium modified catalyst has been studied by continuous flow and pulse techniques over the temperature range of 230-280 degrees C. The results are discussed in terms of reaction mechanisms proposed by others, rejecting mechanisms which involve peroxide formation. It has been shown that not only selectivity towards ETHYLENE oxide production increases considerably by introduction of 0.01 atom percent of selenium into silver, but the reactivity increases also. Above 270 degrees C selectivity drops almost to the level of unmodified catalyst because selenium atoms diffuse into the grooves between silver crystals on the surface of catalyst. It has also been shown that intermolecular conversion of ETHYLENE oxide to acetaldehyde decreases.

Hydrolysis of ETHYLENE-vinyl acetate copolymer in alkaline conditions using two systems of NaOH/methanol and KOH/isopropanol has been studied and the formation of ETHYLENE-vinyl alcohol copolymer was systematically examined using NMR spectroscopy and DSC measurements. Vinyl acetate weight percentage and the degree of hydrolysis were calculated from NMR spectroscopy and it is shown that hydrolysis by NaOH/methanol system has higher rate and reaches a maximum of nearly 100 percent compared with KOH/isopropanol system. DSC was used to follow melting temperature and DH of the hydrolysis products. The results have shown that the obtained copolymers have higher melting temperature and DH indicating that ETHYLENE-vinyl acetate copolymer is converted to ETHYLENE-vinyl alcohol. Moreover, DSC confirms the results of NMR in which higher degree of hydrolysis is reached using NaOH/methanol system. Based on the experimental results and system used, the hydrolysis is reached its maximum between 10 and 30 min in this study.