Modeling the hydrolysis of the polymeric brominated flame retardants BC-58 and FR-1025

Abstract

AbstractThe SPARC software program was used to estimate the acid-catalyzed, neutral, and base-catalyzed hydrolysis rate constants for the polymeric brominated flame retardants BC-58 and FR-1025, as well as the hydrolyzable daughter products of BC-58. Relatively rapid hydrolysis of BC-58, producing 2,4,6-tribromophenol and tetrabromobisphenol A as the hydrolytically stable end products from all potential hydrolysis reactions, is expected in both environmental and biological systems with starting material hydrolytic half lives (t~1/2,hydr~) ranging from less than one hour in marine systems, several hours in cellular environments, and up to several weeks in slightly acid fresh waters. Hydrolysis of FR-1025 to give 2,3,4,5,6-pentabromobenzyl alcohol is expected to be slower (t~1/2,hydr~ less than 0.5 years in marine systems up to several years in fresh waters) than BC-58, but is also expected to occur at rates that will contribute significantly to environmental and in vivo loadings of this compound.