Kinetics of the alkaline hydrolysis of fenuron in aqueous and micellar media

Abstract

AbstractThe kinetics of the hydrolysis of fenuron in sodium hydroxide has been investigated spectrometrically in an aqueous medium and in cationic micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) medium. The reaction follows first‐order kinetics with respect to [fenuron] in both the aqueous and micellar media. The rate of hydrolysis increases with the increase in [NaOH] in the lower concentration range but shows a leveling behavior at higher concentrations. The reaction followed the rate equation, 1/kobs = 1/k + 1/(kK[OH−]), where kobs is the observed rate constant, k is rate constant in aqueous medium, and k is the equilibrium constant for the formation of hydroxide addition product. The cationic CTAB micelles enhanced the rate of hydrolytic reaction. In both aqueous and micellar pseudophases, the hydrolysis of fenuron presumably occurs via an addition–elimination mechanism in which an intermediate hydroxide addition complex is formed. The added salts decrease the rate of reaction. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 39: 638–644, 2007