Measured Reaction Rate Constants Research Articles

Label-free measurement of reaction rate constants in solution using fluidic dielectrophoresis

We use the fluidic dielectrophoresis (fDEP) motion of a polarizable liquid-liquid electrical interface to quantify reaction rate kinetics of binding interactions in solution. Using a T-shaped microfluidic channel we co-flow two reactant streams side-by-side. Their resulting interface enables controlled diffusive mixing and product formation. We electrokinetically engineer the interface such it is electrical in nature so that one liquid stream possesses a higher electrical conductivity and the other a higher permittivity. When the interface is exposed to a perpendicular alternating current (AC) electric field the electrical mismatch drives it to polarize and displace across the microchannel width in a direction and magnitude that is a function of the electrical properties of the interface and of the field frequency applied. At a low frequency below the inverse interfacial charge relaxation timescale, the high conductive stream displaces into the high permittivity stream. At frequencies above this inverse timescale the direction reverses. At an intermediate “crossover” frequency (COF), the polarization of the interface tends to zero and the displacement ceases. Because interfacial reactions influence the electrical properties, binding dynamics can be quantified using the COF. We measure the COF down the axial length of an interface subjected to binding reactions between CaGreen and Ca2+, and between avidin and biotin. The experimental measurements are in good agreement with an electrokinetically coupled two-dimensional simulation of the reaction-diffusion equations. From this work, we show that the motion of an electrical interface in an electrical field can be utilized to measure kinetic reaction rates in solution phase.

Bromine Radical (Br• and Br2•-) Reactivity with Dissolved Organic Matter and Brominated Organic Byproduct Formation.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a major scavenger of bromine radicals (e.g., Br• and Br2•-) in sunlit surface waters and during oxidative processes used in water treatment. However, the literature lacks quantitative measurements of reaction rate constants between bromine radicals and DOM and lacks information on the extent to which these reactions form brominated organic byproducts. Based on transient kinetic analysis with different fractions and sources of DOM, we determined reaction rate constants for DOM with Br• ranging from <5.0 × 107 to (4.2 ± 1.3) × 108 MC-1 s-1, which are comparable with those of HO• but higher than those with Br2•- (k = (9.0 ± 2.0) × 104 to (12.4 ± 2.1) × 105 MC-1 s-1). Br• and Br2•- attack the aromatic and antioxidant moieties of DOM via the electron transfer mechanism, resulting in Br- release with minimal substitution of bromine into DOM. For example, the total organic bromine was less than 0.25 μM (as Br) at environmentally relevant bromine radicals' exposures of ∼10-9 M·s. The results give robust evidence that the scavenging of bromine radicals by DOM is a crucial step to prevent inorganic bromine radical chemistry from producing free bromine (HOBr/OBr-) and subsequent brominated byproducts.

Reaction kinetics between thiobases and singlet oxygen studied by direct detection of the 1O2 luminescence decay

Thiobase derivatives have received important investigations due to their wide usage as phototherapeutic agents and their potential carcinogenic side effects as immunosuppressants. The substitution of oxygen atom by the sulfur atom makes the ultraviolet absorption of thiobases redshifted and absorbs UVA light (&amp;gt;300 nm), resulting in unusual high quantum yield of triplet state to generate the singlet oxygen (1O2) through photosensitization. As a type of reactive oxygen species, 1O2 is highly reactive toward thiobases. Herein, we report the measurements of reaction rate constants between different thiobases and 1O2 in different solvents through the direct detection of 1O2 luminescence decay kinetics at 1270 nm. The rate constants of thiouracils with 1O2 are five times smaller than that of thioguanine with 1O2, which suggests that thiopurines are more reactive than thiopyrimidines and thus less suitable to be a photosensitive drug on the application of photodynamic therapy. Additionally, the rate constants of thiobases and 1O2 were found to be obviously influenced by the solvent polarity. With the increase of solvent polarity, the rate constants of thiobases and 1O2 decrease.

Shock Tube Measurement of the C2H4 + H ⇔ C2H3 + H2 Rate Constant.

The rate constant for the reaction C2H4 + H ⇔ C2H3 + H2 was studied behind reflected shock waves at temperatures between 1619 and 1948 K and pressures near 10 atm in a mixture of C2H4, CH4, H2, and argon. C2H4 time histories were measured using laser absorption of a CO2 gas laser near 10.53 μm. Experimental mixtures were designed to optimize sensitivity to the title reaction with only weak sensitivity to secondary reactions. Two mechanisms, FFCM1 and ARAMCO v2, are used for data analysis. The well-selected operating conditions and Monte Carlo sampling data analysis procedure resulted in mechanism-independent reaction rate constant measurements with a 2σ uncertainty of ±35%. The current data disagree with a broadly used theoretical calculation (Knyazev et al. (1996)), but they are in good consensus with one of the review studies (Baulch et al. (2005)), k = (3.9 × 1022) T3.62 exp(-5670/ T) cm3 molecule-1 s-1. To the best of our knowledge, this work provides the first high-temperature study of the C2H4 + H ⇔ C2H3 + H2 reaction rate constant with well-defined uncertainty.

Interplay of phase boundary anisotropy and electro-auto-catalytic surface reactions on the lithium intercalation dynamics in LiXFePO4 plateletlike nanoparticles

Experiments on single crystal Li$_X$FePO$_4$ (LFP) nanoparticles indicate rich nonequilibrium phase behavior, such as suppression of phase separation at high lithiation rates, striped patterns of coherent phase boundaries, nucleation by binarysolid surface wetting and intercalation waves. These observations have been successfully predicted (prior to the experiments) by 1D depth-averaged phase-field models, which neglect any subsurface phase separation. In this paper, using an electro-chemo-mechanical phase-field model, we investigate the coherent non-equilibrium subsurface phase morphologies that develop in the $ab$- plane of platelet-like single-crystal platelet-like Li$_X$FePO$_4$ nanoparticles. Finite element simulations are performed for 2D plane-stress conditions in the $ab$- plane, and validated by 3D simulations, showing similar results. We show that the anisotropy of the interfacial tension tensor, coupled with electroautocatalytic surface intercalation reactions, plays a crucial role in determining the subsurface phase morphology. With isotropic interfacial tension, subsurface phase separation is observed, independent of the reaction kinetics, but for strong anisotropy, phase separation is controlled by surface reactions, as assumed in 1D models. Moreover, the driven intercalation reaction suppresses phase separation during lithiation, while enhancing it during delithiation, by electro-autocatalysis, in quantitative agreement with {\it in operando} imaging experiments in single-crystalline nanoparticles, given measured reaction rate constants.

Label-free Microarray-based Binding Affinity Constant Measurement with Modified Fluidic Arrangement

The oblique-incidence reflectivity difference (OI-RD) scanning microscopy has the capability of simultaneously measuring binding curves of a protein probe with tens of thousands molecular targets in a microarray and yielding reaction rate constants. However, the quality of reaction rate constants is influenced by the fluidic system. To improve the quality of reaction rate constant measurement over the entire microarray, we demonstrate a fluidic chamber that allows the fluid to flow from the bottom to the top uniformly across the microarray and thus provides more uniform and accurate measurements of reaction rate constants with simplified fluidic design.

Kinetics of CO+ and CO2+ with N and O atoms.

We have measured reaction rate constants for CO+ and CO2+ reacting with N and O atoms using a selected ion flow tube apparatus equipped with a microwave discharge atom source. Experimental work was supplemented by molecular structure calculations. Calculated pathways show the sensitivity of kinetic barriers to theoretical methods and imply that high-level ab initio methods are required for accurate energetics. We report room-temperature rate constants of 1.0 ± 0.4 × 10-11 cm3 s-1 and 4.0 ± 1.6 × 10-11 cm3 s-1 for the reactions of CO+ with N and O atoms, respectively, and 8.0 ± 3.0 × 10-12 cm3 s-1 and 2.0 ± 0.8 × 10-11 cm3 s-1 for the reactions of CO2+ with N and O atoms, respectively. The reaction of CO2+ + O is observed to yield O2+ exclusively. These values help resolve discrepancies in the literature and are important for modeling of the Martian atmosphere.

Mechanistic Insight into the Reactivity of Chlorine-Derived Radicals in the Aqueous-Phase UV-Chlorine Advanced Oxidation Process: Quantum Mechanical Calculations.

The combined ultraviolet (UV) and free chlorine (UV-chlorine) advanced oxidation process that produces highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (HO•) and chlorine radicals (Cl•) is an attractive alternative to UV alone or chlorination for disinfection because of the destruction of a wide variety of organic compounds. However, concerns about the potential formation of chlorinated transformation products require an understanding of the radical-induced elementary reaction mechanisms and their reaction-rate constants. While many studies have revealed the reactivity of oxygenated radicals, the reaction mechanisms of chlorine-derived radicals have not been elucidated due to the data scarcity and discrepancies among experimental observations. We found a linear free-energy relationship quantum mechanically calculated free energies of reaction and the literature-reported experimentally measured reaction rate constants, kexp, for 22 chlorine-derived inorganic radical reactions in the UV-chlorine process. This relationship highlights the discrepancy among literature-reported rate constants and aids in the determination of the rate constant using quantum mechanical calculations. We also found linear correlations between the theoretically calculated free energies of activation and kexp for 31 reactions of Cl• with organic compounds. The correlation suggests that H-abstraction and Cl-adduct formation are the major reaction mechanisms. This is the first comprehensive study on chlorine-derived radical reactions, and it provides mechanistic insight into the reaction mechanisms for the development of an elementary reaction-based kinetic model.

Measurement of reaction rate constants using RCM: A case study of decomposition of dimethyl carbonate to dimethyl ether

This paper proposes a method to measure the reaction rate constants in kinetically-simple pyrolysis systems using rapid compression machine (RCM) and fast sampling. The method involves first performing sensitivity analysis based on a reasonable kinetic model to identify the species dominated by a target reaction. Then the time-resolved species concentration profiles are measured in RCM experiments using fast sampling and gas chromatography. Finally, the pre-assigned pre-exponential factor and the activation energy are optimized by an iterative fitting procedure, in which the entire temperature profile derived from the pressure history is taken into account. In order to validate this method, the rate constant of the reaction CH3OCHO (methyl formate, MF) => CH3OH+CO (R1) was determined by measuring the CO concentration over 948–1112K at 30bar, obtaining the rate expressionkR1/s−1=3.04×1013exp(−30968K/T), which is consistent with previous theoretical and experimental studies. The rate constant of the reaction CH3OCOOCH3 (dimethyl carbonate, DMC) => CH3OCH3 (dimethyl ether, DME)+CO2 (R2) was then studied by measuring the time-resolved DME concentration over 994–1068K at 30bar. The measured rate expression of kR2/s−1=2.02×1013exp(−34248K/T)with an uncertainty of ±30% agrees well with the RRKM/Master Equation calculation based on a high-level quantum chemical potential energy surface.

Atmospheric oxidation of halogenated aromatics: comparative analysis of reaction mechanisms and reaction kinetics.

Atmospheric transport is the major route for global distribution of semi-volatile compounds such as halogenated aromatics as well as their major exposure route for humans. Their major atmospheric removal process is oxidation by hydroxyl radicals. There is very little information on the reaction mechanism or reaction-path dynamics of atmospheric degradation of halogenated benzenes. Furthermore, the measured reaction rate constants are missing for the range of environmentally relevant temperatures, i.e. 230-330 K. A series of recent theoretical studies have provided those valuable missing information for fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, hexafluorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene. Their comparative analysis has provided additional and more general insight into the mechanism of those important tropospheric degradation processes as well as into the mobility, transport and atmospheric fate of halogenated aromatic systems. It was demonstrated for the first time that the addition of hydroxyl radicals to monohalogenated as well as to perhalogenated benzenes proceeds indirectly, via a prereaction complex and its formation and dynamics have been characterized including the respective transition-state. However, in fluorobenzene and chlorobenzene reactions hydroxyl radical hydrogen is pointing approximately to the center of the aromatic ring while in the case of hexafluorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene, unexpectedly, the oxygen is directed towards the center of the aromatic ring. The reliable rate constants are now available for all environmentally relevant temperatures for the tropospheric oxidation of fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, hexafluorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene while pentachlorophenol, a well-known organic micropollutant, seems to be a major stable product of tropospheric oxidation of hexachlorobenzene. Their calculated tropospheric lifetimes show that fluorobenzene and chlorobenzene are easily removed from the atmosphere and do not have long-range transport potential while hexafluorobenzene seems to be a potential POP chemical and hexachlorobenzene is clearly a typical persistent organic pollutant.

Mechanistic and Kinetic Study of Singlet O2 Oxidation of Methionine by On-Line Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

We report a reaction apparatus developed to monitor singlet oxygen ((1)O2) reactions in solution using on-line ESI mass spectrometry and spectroscopy measurements. (1)O2 was generated in the gas phase by the reaction of H2O2 with Cl2, detected by its emission at 1270 nm, and bubbled into aqueous solution continuously. (1)O2 concentrations in solution were linearly related to the emission intensities of airborne (1)O2, and their absolute scales were established based on a calibration using 9,10-anthracene dipropionate dianion as an (1)O2 trapping agent. Products from (1)O2 oxidation were monitored by UV-Vis absorption and positive/negative ESI mass spectra, and product structures were elucidated using collision-induced dissociation-tandem mass spectrometry. To suppress electrical discharge in negative ESI of aqueous solution, methanol was added to electrospray via in-spray solution mixing using theta-glass ESI emitters. Capitalizing on this apparatus, the reaction of (1)O2 with methionine was investigated. We have identified methionine oxidation intermediates and products at different pH, and measured reaction rate constants. (1)O2 oxidation of methionine is mediated by persulfoxide in both acidic and basic solutions. Persulfoxide continues to react with another methionine, yielding methionine sulfoxide as end-product albeit with a much lower reaction rate in basic solution. Density functional theory was used to explore reaction potential energy surfaces and establish kinetic models, with solvation effects simulated using the polarized continuum model. Combined with our previous study of gas-phase methionine ions with (1)O2, evolution of methionine oxidation pathways at different ionization states and in different media is described.

Rate Constants and Activation Energies for Gas-Phase Reactions of Three Cyclic Volatile Methyl Siloxanes with the Hydroxyl Radical.

ABSTRACTReaction with hydroxyl radicals (OH) is the major pathway for removal of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS) from air. We present new measurements of second‐order rate constants for reactions of the cVMS octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) with OH determined at temperatures between 313 and 353 K. Our measurements were made using the method of relative rates with cyclohexane as a reference substance and were conducted in a 140‐mL gas‐phase reaction chamber with online mass spectrometry analysis. When extrapolated to 298 K, our measured reaction rate constants of D4 and D5 with the OH radical are 1.9 × 10−12 (95% confidence interval (CI): (1.7–2.2) × 10−12) and 2.6 × 10−12 (CI: (2.3–2.9) × 10−12) cm3 molecule−1 s−1, respectively, which are 1.9× and 1.7× faster than previous measurements. Our measured rate constant for D6 is 2.8 × 10−12 (CI: (2.5–3.2) × 10−12) cm3 molecule−1 s−1 and to our knowledge there are no comparable laboratory measurements in the literature. Reaction rates for D5 were 33% higher than for D4 (CI: 30–37%), whereas the rates for D6 were only 8% higher than for D5 (CI: 5–10%). The activation energies of the reactions of D4, D5, and D6 with OH were not statistically different and had a value of 4300 ± 2800 J/mol.

Site-specific reaction rate constant measurements for various secondary and tertiary H-abstraction by OH radicals

Reaction rate constants for nine site-specific hydrogen atom (H) abstraction by hydroxyl radicals (OH) have been determined using experimental measurements of the rate constants of Alkane+OH→Products reactions. Seven secondary (S20, S21, S22, S30, S31, S32, and S33) and two tertiary (T100 and T101) site-specific rate constants, where the subscripts refer to the number of carbon atoms (C) connected to the next–nearest–neighbor (N–N–N) C atom, were obtained for a wide temperature range (250–1450K). This was done by measuring the reaction rate constants for H abstraction by OH from a series of carefully selected large branched alkanes. The rate constant of OH with four different alkanes, namely 2,2-dimethyl-pentane, 2,4-dimethyl-pentane, 2,2,4-trimethyl-pentane (iso-octane), and 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-pentane were measured at high temperatures (822–1367K) using a shock tube and OH absorption diagnostic. Hydroxyl radicals were detected using the narrow-line-width ring-dye laser absorption of the R1(5) transition of OH spectrum near 306.69nm.Previous low-temperature rate constant measurements are added to the current data to generate three-parameter rate expressions that successfully represent the available direct measurements over a wide temperature range (250–1450K). Similarly, literature values of the low-temperature rate constants for the reaction of OH with seven normal and branched alkanes are combined with the recently measured high-temperature rate constants from our group [1]. Subsequent to that, site-specific rate constants for abstractions from various types of secondary and tertiary H atoms by OH radicals are derived and have the following modified Arrhenius expressions:S20=8.49×10-17T1.52exp(73.4K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(250–1450K)S21=1.07×10-15T1.07exp(208.3K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(296–1440K)S22=2.88×10-13T0.41exp(-291.5K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(272–1311K)S30=3.35×10-18T1.97exp(323.1K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(250–1366K)S31=1.60×10-18T2.0exp(500.0K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(250–1351K)S32=9.65×10-17T1.45exp(180.0K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(297–1367K)S33=2.83×10-19T2.25exp(501.3K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(250–1365K)T100=5.69×10-16T1.32exp(76.8K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(297–1375K)T101=1.05×10-16T1.38exp(577.9K/T)cm3molecule-1s-1(297–1362K)

High-Temperature Measurements of the Reactions of OH with Ethylamine and Dimethylamine

The overall rate constants of hydroxyl radicals (OH) with ethylamine (EA: CH3CH2NH2) and dimethylamine (DMA: CH3NHCH3) were investigated behind reflected shock waves using UV laser absorption of OH radicals near 306.7 nm. tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) was used as the fast source of OH at elevated temperatures. Test gas mixtures of individual amines and TBHP, diluted in argon, were shock-heated to temperatures from 901 to 1368 K at pressures near 1.2 atm. The overall rate constants were determined by fitting the measured OH time-histories with the computed profiles using a detailed mechanism developed by Lucassen et al. (Combust. Flame 2012, 159, 2254-2279). Over the temperature range studied, the measured rate constants can be expressed as kEA+OH = 1.10 × 10(7)·T(1.93) exp(1450/T) cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1), and kDMA+OH = 2.26 × 10(4)·T(2.69) exp(1797/T) cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1). Detailed error analyses were performed to estimate the overall uncertainties of the measured reaction rate constants, and the estimated (2σ) uncertainties were found to be ±31% at 901 K and ±22% at 1368 K for kEA+OH, and ±29% at 925 K and ±21% at 1307 K for kDMA+OH. Variational transition state theory was used to compute the H-abstraction rates by OH for ethylamine and dimethylamine, with the potential energy surface, geometries, frequencies, and electronic energies calculated by Galano and Alvarez-Idaboy (J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2008, 4, 322-327) at CCSD(T)/6-311++G(2d,2p) level of theory. The calculated reaction rate constants are in good agreement with the experimental data.

Shock tube study of the pressure dependence of monomethylhydrazine pyrolysis

Monomethylhydrazine (MMH, CH3NHNH2) pyrolysis was studied behind reflected shock waves using a laser absorption method. NH2 concentration time-histories in MMH/argon mixtures were measured over the temperature range of 1100–1400K and pressures 0.3–5atm. The MMH pyrolysis mechanism developed by Sun et al. (2009) [9], with the update by Cook et al. (2011) [11], was used to simulate the NH2 time-histories and to compare with the experiment. The rate constant of the reaction: MMH=CH3N·H+NH2(1a) was determined based on the NH2 time-history measurements. Pressure dependence of k1a was observed at 0.3–5atm. The measured reaction rate constants follow a pressure dependence trend close to the theoretical results by Zhang et al. (2011) [10] based on transition state theory master equation analysis, and reducing their theoretical results by ∼40% leads to a close match with the current data. With the experimentally determined k1a, the simulation results match closely with the NH2 time-histories at early times. Utilizing the later times of the NH2 time-histories, we find that a good fit is achieved with the reaction rate constant of k2=1.5×1014exp (−755/T)cm3/mol/s for the reaction: NHNH2+H=NH2+NH2(2). Simulation results using the modified mechanism, with the updated k1a and k2, match well with the measured NH2 time-histories in the current study.

A Systematic Investigation of p-Nitrophenol Reduction by Bimetallic Dendrimer Encapsulated Nanoparticles

We demonstrate that the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol by NaBH4 is catalyzed by both monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs). We also demonstrate a straightforward and precise method for the synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles using poly(amido)amine dendrimers. The resulting dendrimer encapsulated nanoparticles (DENs) are monodisperse, and the size distribution does not vary with different elemental combinations. Random alloys of Pt/Cu, Pd/Cu, Pd/Au, Pt/Au, and Au/Cu DENs were synthesized and evaluated as catalysts for p-nitrophenol reduction. These combinations are chosen in order to selectively tune the binding energy of the p-nitrophenol adsorbate to the nanoparticle surface. Following the Brønsted–Evans–Polanyi (BEP) relation, we show that the binding energy can reasonably predict the reaction rates of p-nitrophenol reduction. We demonstrate that the measured reaction rate constants of the bimetallic DENs is not always a simple average of the properties of the constituent metals. In particular, DENs containing metals with similar lattice constants produce a binding energy close to the average of the two constituents, whereas DENs containing metals with a lattice mismatch show a bimodal distribution of binding energies. Overall, in this work we present a uniform method for synthesizing pure and bimetallic DENs and demonstrate that their catalytic properties are dependent on the adsorbate’s binding energy.

GAS-PHASE REACTIONS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON ANIONS WITH MOLECULES OF INTERSTELLAR RELEVANCE

We have studied reactions of small dehydrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon anions with neutral species of interstellar relevance. Reaction rate constants are measured at 300?K for the reactions of phenide (C6H? 5), naphthalenide (C10H? 7), and anthracenide (C14H? 9) with atomic H, H2, and D2 using a flowing afterglow-selected ion flow tube instrument. Reaction rate constants of phenide with neutral molecules (CO, O2, CO2, N2O, C2H2, CH3OH, CH3CN, (CH3)2CO, CH3CHO, CH3Cl, and (CH3CH2)2O) are also measured under the same conditions. Experimental measurements are accompanied by ab initio calculations to provide insight into reaction pathways and enthalpies. Our measured reaction rate constants should prove useful in the modeling of astrophysical environments, particularly when applied to dense regions of the interstellar and circumstellar medium.

High-Accuracy Measurements of OH Reaction Rate Constants and IR Absorption Spectra: CH2═CF−CF3 and trans-CHF═CH−CF3

Rate constants for the gas phase reactions of OH radicals with two isomers of tetrafluoropropene, CH(2)=CF-CF(3) (k(1)) and trans-CHF=CH-CF(3) (k(2)); were measured using a flash photolysis resonance-fluorescence technique over the temperature range 220 to 370 K. The Arrhenius plots were found to exhibit a noticeable curvature. The temperature dependences of the rate constants are very weak and can be represented by the following expressions over the indicated temperature intervals: k(1)(220-298 K) = 1.145 x 10(-12) x exp{13/T} cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), k(1)(298-370 K) = 4.06 x 10(-13) x (T/298)(1.17) x exp{+296/T} cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), k(2)(220-370 K) = 1.115 x 10(-13) x (T/298)(2.03) x exp{+522/T} cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). The overall accuracy of the rate constant measurements is estimated to be ca. 2% to 2.5% at the 95% confidence level. The uncertainty of the measured reaction rate constants is discussed in detail. The atmospheric lifetimes due to reactions with tropospheric OH were estimated to be 12 and 19 days respectively under the assumption of a well mixed atmosphere. IR absorption cross-sections were measured for both compounds and their global warming potentials were estimated.

Quantitative Correlation of Absolute Hydroxyl Radical Rate Constants with Non-Isolated Effluent Organic Matter Bulk Properties in Water

Absolute second-order rate constants for the reaction between the hydroxyl radical (*OH) and eight water samples containing non-isolated effluent organic matter (EfOM) collected at different wastewater and reclamation sites were measured by electron pulse radiolysis. The measured rate constants ranged from 0.27 to 1.21 x 10(9) Mc(-1) s(-1), with an average value of 0.86 (+/-0.35) x 10(9) Mc(-1) s(-1). These absolute values were 3-5 times faster than previously reported values using natural organic matter and wastewater isolates. The obtained rate constants were correlated (R2 > 0.99) to bulk EfOM properties through an empirical equation that included terms relating to the polarity, apparent molecular weight, and fluorescence index of the effluent organic matter. The obtained data were used to model steady state *OH concentrations during UV advanced oxidation. The steady-state *OH concentration was lower than that obtained using previously reported values for the reaction with dissolved organic matter, indicating that accurate measurement of reaction rate constants at specific sites would greatly improve the design and prediction of the removal of organic contaminants. These results will improve the ability of researchers to accurately model scavenging capacities during the advanced oxidation processtreatment of wastewaters.

Benzamide hydrolysis in strong acids — The last word

Recently it has become apparent that the mechanism of amide hydrolysis in relatively dilute strong acid media is the same as the one observed for ester and benzimidate hydrolysis, two water molecules reacting with the O-protonated amide in the rate-determining step. This is not the whole story, however, at least for benzamide, N-methylbenzamide, and N,N-dimethylbenzamide, since the observed rate constants for these substrates deviate upwards from the observed excess acidity correlation lines at acidities higher than about 60% H2SO4, meaning that another, faster, reaction with a different mechanism is taking over at higher acidities. It has never been clear what this latter mechanism was until the work reported in this paper. An exhaustive excess acidity analysis of all the available measured reaction rate constants for the three substrates in three different acidic media, aqueous H2SO4, aqueous HClO4, and aqueous HCl, shows that this second mechanism involves a second rate-determining proton transfer to the O-protonated benzamide, followed by (or possibly concerted with) irreversible loss of +NH4 to give an acylium ion. Subsequent reaction of this with water (or bisulfate, etc.) eventually gives the observed carboxylic acid product. This latter reaction mechanism has never been previously considered for amide hydrolysis, but it may not be uncommon; at least one other reaction with a similar mechanism is known, and another possible case is suggested.Key words: amides, benzamides, hydrolysis, excess acidity, mechanism, acid media.