Substitution of free formaldehyde with substances capable of
releasing formaldehyde in-situ is possible
• Trioxane
• Urotropine
• Melamine resins
BUT: necessity of either catalysts or higher temperatures to
decompose those substances in order to release formaldehyde?
Is there any substances to replace formaldehyde?
Paraformaldehyde is used extensively as a formaldehyde releasing agent.
Diazolidinyl urea and DMDM hydantoin may work too, but I don't have research regarding it's use in organic synthesis
I wouldn't use Urotropine since it introduces ammonia to the system, which copolymerizes with both your reactants.
However, what's important here is what's the purpose of replacing formaldehyde. If you simply want a solid to generate it in situ and avoid working with a gas, paraformaldehyde should do, it decomposes in basic conditions at 60ºC to generate formaldehyde with no side products. However, it should be handled similarly as formaldehyde since it's pretty much just as toxic, but it's a solid.
Since I don't know much about this particular process, maybe generating CHOH from methanol, altho that requires catalysts, or even this science madness post, heating calcium formate, sounds feasible.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/formaldehyde.html
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