The transformation is much slower than both the initial formation of the intermediate and the formation of ULM-5 when orthophosphoric acid is used as a starting material, taking over 2 hours to go to completion. The peak labels correspond to the indices of the Bragg reflections of ULM-5. The experiments were performed on station 16.4 of the UK SRS at Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington. Details of the experimental apparatus and station design have been published previously. The peak labels refer to the indices of the Bragg reflections of ULM-5.
Solid lines are for guidance only and have no physical significance.
However, although the initial growth occurs at virtually the same rate, the transformation to product was much slower at lower temperatures. Conversion into the final product does not occur until after 40 minutes into the reaction at this temperature. The determination of conditions in which the intermediate is relatively stable opened up the possibility of isolation of this material by quenching of the reaction during the early stages before the conversion to the final product has begun, assuming that the material does not transform during the quenching procedure. Powder X-ray diffraction of the material obtained from the quenched autoclave showed that the intermediate phase had indeed been sucessfully isolated. This suggests that the two materials may be closely structurally related.