Total decomposition of phenol by chlorination

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21H01463
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 22060:Environmental systems for civil engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Echigo Shinya 京都大学, 地球環境学堂, 教授 (70359777)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ハロ酢酸 / 分画 / 塩素処理 / 溶存有機物 / 消毒副生成物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To understand the degradation pathway of phenol, which is considered to be an important precursor of disinfection byproducts by chlorination, a "reaction-fraction-reaction" method in which chlorination and fractionation are repeated at each reaction step to separate only the intermediates involved in the reaction was established and optimized. This method was applied to the reaction of phenol and chlorine, physically separating reactions that occur in parallel, and developed a method that enables structural analysis of important intermediates by high-resolution mass spectrometry and other methods. The "reaction-fractionation-reaction" method can eliminate peaks unrelated to the formation of trichloroacetic acid, and is useful for narrowing down the range of important intermediates.

Free Research Field

水質化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

消毒副生成物は，水道水中に含まれる代表的な微量汚染物質であるが，その生成機構は多段かつ分岐するもので，複雑である。本研究は，この複雑な反応を単純化するために，反応中間体を含む混合液を分画して，その後再度塩素処理することで，重要な反応中間体を絞り込む技術を開発した。この方法は，本研究で取り上げた，フェノールからのトリクロロ酢酸等の生成以外にも，普遍的に応用可能であり，副生成物の化学を大きく進展させ，安全な水道水の確保に大きく貢献すると期待される。