KINETIC STUDY OF OZONE-PHENOL REACTION IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS

The present research concerns mechanism and rate of reaction between dissolved ozone and phenol in homogeneous solutions. The stopped‐flow technique was employed to obtain absorbances during reactions; the kinetic experiments were conducted at temperatures varying from 5° to 35°C in aqueous solutions with pH values ranging from 1.5 to 5.2. The kinetic data indicated that the absorbance of a mixed solution increased rapidly in the very early portion of the reaction and then declined slowly in the remaining period. The rate of reaction in the early period was first order with respect to both phenol and ozone concentrations. The rate constant increased with pH value and temperature, and an activation energy of 5.74 K cal/mole was obtained. Further tests showed that the dissolved ozone was consumed completely in the first period and that in the second period the intermediate products were decomposed without depletion of ozone. Catechol, o‐quinone, hydroquinone, oxalic acid, humic acid, and a dimer were identified from mass spectra as products of the ozonization reaction. A free radical mechanism, with initiation of an electrophilic reaction for the formation of catechyl radical, has been proposed to explain the experimental data for phenol‐ozone reaction in aqueous solutions. According to the proposed mechanism, the reaction path through the attachment to ortho position is much more favorable compared with that through the paraposition because of geometric advantage, though quinones and hydroxyphenol can be formed through parallel paths. The products of reaction detected in this research, therefore, are accountable by this mechanism. A rate equation derived on the basis of this mechanism also agrees well with that observed from the kinetic experiments. Copyright © 1979 American Institute of Chemical Engineers