Theoretical study on the formation mechanism of pre-intermediates for PXDD/Fs from 2-Bromophenol and 2-Chlorophenol precursors via radical/molecule reactions

Abstract

This study investigates reaction pathways for the formation of pre-PXDD/F intermediates via a radical/molecule mechanism. Thermodynamic and kinetic parameters for the combination reactions of 2-bromophenol (2-BP) and 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) precursors with key radical species including the phenoxy radicals, the phenyl radicals and the phenoxyl diradicals were calculated in detail. The couplings of phenoxy radicals with 2-B(C)P tend to produce pre-PXDD intermediates of halogenated o-phenoxyphenol. The combinations of phenyl and phenoxyl diradicals with 2-B(C)P produce two types of structures, i.e., dihydroxybiphenyl and o-phenoxyphenyl, which exclusively act as prestructures of PXDFs. These condensation reactions, especially those involving the phenyl C atom sites in phenyl and phenoxyl diradicals, are proven to be both thermodynamically and kinetically favorable and are nearly comparable with the corresponding steps involved in the radical/radical reactions. Most importantly, reactions of phenyl and phenoxyl diradicals with halogenated phenols solely lead to the formation of PXDFs, which to some extent provides a plausible explanation for the high PXDF-to-PXDD ratios in the real environment. Therefore, our study reveals the pivotal role of the radical/molecule mechanism in homogeneous gas-phase PXDD/F formation, especially in PXDF formation. The present results fill in a knowledge gap that has hitherto existed regarding dioxin formation and improve our understanding of PXDD/F formation characteristics in the environment.