Effect of supercritical water density on the rate constant of aliphatic nitrocompounds decomposition

It was shown experimentally that the rate of aliphatic nitrocompounds decomposition in supercritical water (SCW) depends on pressure/density at constant temperature. The SCW density dependence of the apparent rate constant of decomposition for each of three compounds under consideration (nitromethane, nitroethane and 1-nitropropane) was found to correlate with the density dependence of the H3O+ concentration in dissociated SCW The rate constant of RNO2 decomposition in SCW decreased with increasing the length of hydrocarbon radical R. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.