Removal and mineralization of toluene under VUV/UV lamp irradiation in humid air: Effect of light wavelength,O2 and H2O

VUV/UV photodegradation is a promising method that utilizes energetic photons and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated via the photo-dissociation of H₂O and O₂ to degrade VOCs. In the paper, we investigated the efficiency of removal and mineralization in humid air and the effects of key factors. Toluene of 4–20 ppm can be almost completely removed in 60 s and mineralization efficiency is above 55% at 25 min. 185 nm ultraviolet light plays a key role in the rapid removal and mineralization of toluene. Appropriate amount of O₂ and H₂O promote the removal of toluene due to the generation of ROS. Based on the intermediates and degradation pathway analysis, it is found that in the presence of O₂, degradation pathways of toluene are more abundant and fewer linear-chain aldehydes are produced, thus resulting in higher mineralization efficiency. This work highlights the importance of practical application of VUV/UV photodegradation in humid air.     

Plasma-Catalytic Oxidation of Toluene on MnxOy at Atmospheric Pressure and Room Temperature

Mn_xO_y/SBA-15 catalysts were prepared via the impregnation method and utilized for toluene removal in dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption–desorption, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H₂ temperature-programmed reduction, and O₂ temperature-programmed desorption methods. The characterization results indicated that manganese loading did not influence the 2D-hexagonal mesoporous structure of SBA-15. The catalyst had various oxidation states of manganese (Mn²⁺, Mn³⁺, and Mn⁴⁺), with Mn³⁺ being the dominant oxidation state. Toluene removal was investigated in the environment of pure N₂ and 80 % N₂ + 20 % O₂ plasma, showing that the toluene removal efficiency and CO₂ selectivity were noticeably increased by Mn_xO_y/SBA-15, especially in the presence of 5 % Mn/SBA-15. This activity was closely related to the high dispersion of 5 % Mn on SBA-15 and the lowest reduction temperature exhibited by this catalyst. Mn loading increased the yield of CO₂ in the N₂ plasma and promoted the deep oxidation of toluene. During toluene oxidation, oxygen exchange might follow a pathway, wherein bulk oxygen was released from the Mn_xO_y/SBA-15 surface; gas-phase O₂ subsequently filled up the vacancies created on the oxide. Each of the manganese oxidation states played an important role; Mn₂O₃ was considered as a bridge for oxygen exchange between the gas phase and the catalyst, and Mn₃O₄ mediated transfer of oxygen between the catalyst and toluene.     

Humidity Effect on Toluene Decomposition in a Wire-plate Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor

Laboratory-scale experiments were performed to evaluate the humidity effect on toluene decomposition by using a wire-plate dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The toluene decomposition efficiency as well as the carbon dioxide selectivity with/without water in a gas stream of N₂ with 5% O₂ was investigated. Under the optimal humidity of 0.2% the characteristics of toluene decomposition in various background gas, including air, N₂ with 500 ppm O₂, and N₂ with 5% O₂ were observed. In addition, the influence of a catalyst on the decomposition was studied at selected humidities. It was found that the optimum toluene removal efficiency was achieved by the gas stream containing 0.2% H₂O, since the presence of water enhanced the CO₂ selectivity. In addition, the toluene removal efficiency increased significantly in a dry gas stream but decreased with an increase in the humidity when the Co₃O₄/Al₂O₃/nickel foam catalyst was introduced into the discharge area.     

Products of Reaction of NH with NO

The products of reaction of NO with breakdown products of NH₃ in an H₂/N₂/O₂ flame at 1500 K were investigated by mass spectrometric analysis of the hot gases. It is concluded that the major process involving NO and NH is NO + NH → N₂ + O + H and that not more than 10% of reactive collisions between these species lead to N₂O + H.     

Direct oxidative esterification of toluene with 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds catalysed by copper complex supported on magnetic nanoparticles

Toluene oxidation is one of the substantial industrial technologies since oxidized products are industrially very important intermediates. A Fe₃O₄@cysteine@Cu‐catalysed reaction that uses tert ‐butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant to produce esters from toluene and β‐diketones or β‐keto esters, enolate precursors, has been developed. Oxidative esterification of toluene with 1,3‐dicarbonyl derivatives led to C─O bond formation and direct C─H functionalization.     

Effect of Water Vapor on NO Removal in a DBD Reactor at Different Temperatures

The present work investigates experimentally the effect of H₂O vapor on the removal of NO at elevated temperatures. Breakdown voltage, discharge characteristics and NO removal efficiency were studied under various conditions of water vapor content. The experimental results indicate H₂O can greatly enhance the NO removal efficiency from a NO/O₂/N₂/C₂H₄/H₂O system, but the breakdown voltage increases as the relative humidity of the gas increases. Moreover, the effect of temperature on NO removal at a relative gas humidity of 30 % was analyzed. With an increase in temperature, E/N increased, producing more active species and energetic electrons; electron detachment also became significant at high temperature and the rates of major reactions were promoted, intensifying the conversion of NO.     

A comparison of the reactions of the oxide radical anion (o−.) with simple aromatic compounds at atmospheric and at reduced pressure conditions

The reactions of oxide radical anions (O^?.) with benzene and toluene under atmospheric pressure (APCI) and conventional chemical ionization (CI) conditions were compared. Hydrogen radical (H^?) displacement by oxygen, yielding [M ? H + O]^?, was observed in both the APCI and the CI source. However, the product, [M ? 2H]^?., derived from dihydrogen radical ion (H₂ ^+.) transfer which was observed in the CI spectra, was consistently absent under APCI conditions. This behavior is rationalized in terms of the higher pressures and chemical equilibrium associated with the APCI source. In addition to the formation of the a priori expected phenoxide isomers, the reaction of O^?. with toluene to yield the [M ? H + O]^? product generates a benzyloxide anion. Tandem mass spectrometry data from collision-induced dissociation and isotopic labeling with deuterium support a reaction mechanism initiated by α hydrogen abstraction for both the H^. and the H₂ ^+. transfer pathways.     

Decomposition of N2O on Rh-loaded zeolites

N₂O was decomposed over Rh supported on NaY zeolite and ZSM5. With low Rh-loading (≤0.1 wt.%) the activity of Rh was much higher than that supported on SiO₂ and CeO₂. On the contrary, the activity of Rh-loaded zeolites (0.1 wt.%) was not so high or even lower than that on SiO₂ for the oxidation of toluene, which has a larger molecular size than N₂O. Thus the Rh present inside the zeolite cavity was especially effective in the decomposition of N₂O.     

Theoretical study of reactions of N2O with NO and OH radicals

The reactions of N₂O with NO and OH radicals have been studied using ab initio molecular orbital theory. The energetics and molecular parameters, calculated by the modified Gaussian-2 method (G2M), have been used to compute the reaction rate constants on the basis of the TST and RRKM theories. The reaction N₂O + NO → N₂ + NO₂ (1) was found to proceed by direct oxygen abstraction and to have a barrier of 47 kcal/mol. The theoretical rate constant, k₁ = 8.74 × 10⁻¹⁹ × T^2.23 exp (−23,292/T) cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹, is in close agreement with earlier estimates. The reaction of N₂O with OH at low temperatures and atmospheric pressure is slow and dominated by association, resulting in the HONNO intermediate. The calculated rate constant for 300 K ≤ T ≤ 500 K is lower by a few orders than the upper limits previously reported in the literature. At temperatures higher than 1000 K, the N₂O + OH reaction is dominated by the N₂ + O₂H channel, while the HNO + NO channel is slower by 2–3 orders of magnitude. The calculated rate constants at the temperature range of 1000–5000 K for N₂O + OH → N₂ + O₂H (2A) and N₂O + OH → HNO + NO (2B) are fitted by the following expressions: in units of cm³ molecule ⁻¹s⁻¹. Both N₂O + NO and N₂O + OH reactions are confirmed to enhance, albeit inefficiently, the N₂O decomposition by reducing its activation energy. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Theoretical study of the structure and stability of the dimers of heme analogues (MC34H32N4O4)2 and their ions (MC34H32N4O4) 2+ with 3 d -metal atoms M

The electronic and geometric structures and the energetic characteristics of a series of monomeric MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O ₄ ^0,+ and dimeric (MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄) ₂ ^0,+ molecules, heme analogues and their positively charged ions with 3d-metal atoms M = Ti, V, Cr, and Mn, have been calculated by the density functional theory B3LYP method with the Gen−1 = 6−31G^*(Fe) + 6−31G(C, H, N, O) and Gen−2 = 6−311+G^*(Fe) + 6−31G^*(C, H, N, O) basis sets. The computation results are compared with the analogous calculated data on the heme dimers (heme) ₂ ^0,+ . Computations show that for the (MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄) ₂ ^0,+ dimers, high-spin states are preferable. In these dimers, the rings are linked with each other by a pair of M-carbonyl bridges M⋯O_b=C(OH) and a pair of hydrogen bridges OH_b⋯N. The calculated energies of dissociation D of the dimers into monomers point to a rather high stability of the dimers at the beginning of the 3d series (D ∼ 2.3–3.6 eV for M = Ti, V), which decreases rapidly as the atomic number of M increases (D ∼ 0.5 eV for M = Cr and ∼0.4 eV for (heme)₂). The positive ions (MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄) ₂ ⁺ are ∼0.8–1.0 eV are more stable to dissociation than their neutral congeners (MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄)₂. The trends in the behavior of the energetic and structural characteristics of the dimers (distances R(M—N), displacements of M atoms from the porphyrin ring plane, parameters of the carbonyl and hydrogen bridges, character of ring distortions, etc.), as well as in the spin density distribution between the metal atoms and the rings in the monomers MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄ and dimers (MC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄)₂ caused by their ionization and going along the 3d series, are examined. In the mixed dimer (FeC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄)(VC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄), the rings are linked by only one strong carbonyl bridge V⋯O_b=C(OH), with some contribution made by the neighboring hydrogen bridge. The dissociation energy of this mixed dimer into monomers is close to a half of the dissociation energy of the “symmetric” dimer (VC₃₄H₃₂N₄O₄)₂. Original Russian Text ? O.P. Charkin, N.M. Klimenko, D.O. Charkin, S.H. Lin, 2007, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2007, Vol. 52, No. 8, pp. 1332–1346.     

Reaction mechanism of simultaneous catalytic removal of NOx and diesel soot particulates

Reactions of diesel soot and NOx with and without O₂ were carried out over CuFe₂O₄ catalyst. The ignition temperature of soot with the NO+O₂ feed was lower than that in O₂ or NO but close to those in NO₂ and NO₂+O₂, indicating the implication of NO₂ especially in decreasing the ignition temperature. On the other hand, the reduction of NOx into N₂ was enhanced by coexisting O₂. Based on these results and mechanisms of O₂-soot and NO-soot reactions, the possible reaction mechanism of the simultaneous NOx-soot removal with the NO+O₂ feed has been proposed.     

The Effect of Oxygen and Water Vapor on Nitric Oxide Conversion with a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor

The effect of O₂ and H₂O vapor on the Nitric oxide (NO) removal rate, the NO₂ generation rate and the discharge characteristics were investigated using the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor at 1 atm pressure and at room temperature (20°). The results showed that the O₂ present in the flue gas always hampered the removal of NO and the generation of N₂O, but that the O₂ could enhance the generation of NO₂ in the NO/N₂/O₂ mixtures. Furthermore, with the increase of oxygen, the average discharge current gradually decreases in the reactor. The H₂O present in N₂/NO hindered the removal of NO and the generation of NO₂ but had no impact on the average discharge current in the reactor in the NO/N₂/H₂O mixtures in which the HNO₂ and HNO₃ was detected. The energy efficiency of the DBD used to remove the NO from the flue gas was also estimated.     

Flow reactor studies and kinetic modeling of the H2/O2 reaction

Profile measurements of the H₂/O₂ reaction have been obtained using a variable pressure flow reactor over pressure and temperature ranges of 0.3–15.7 atm and 850–1040 K, respectively. These data span the explosion limit behavior of the system and place significant emphasis on HO₂ and H₂O₂ kinetics. The explosion limits of dilute H₂/O₂/N₂ mixtures extend to higher pressures and temperatures than those previously observed for undiluted H₂/O₂ mixtures. In addition, the explosion limit data exhibit a marked transition to an extended second limit which runs parallel to the second limit criteria calculated by assuming HO₂ formation to be terminating. The experimental data and modeling results show that the extended second limit remains an important boundary in H₂/O₂ kinetics. Near this limit, small increases in pressure can result in more than a two order of magnitude reduction in reaction rate. At conditions above the extended second limit, the reaction is characterized by an overall activation energy much higher than in the chain explosive regime. The overall data set, consisting primarily of experimentally measured profiles of H₂, O₂, H₂O, and temperature, further expand the data base used for comprehensive mechanism development for the H₂/O₂ and CO/H₂O/O₂ systems. Several rate constants recommended in an earlier reaction mechanism have been modified using recently published rate constant data for H + O₂ (+ N₂) = HO₂ (+ N₂), HO₂ + OH = H₂O + O₂, and HO₂ + HO₂ = H₂O₂ + O₂. When these new rate constants are incorporated into the reaction mechanism, model predictions are in very good agreement with the experimental data. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 31: 113–125, 1999     

Hydro­gen bonds and C—H⃛O interactions in N‐(2‐hydroxy‐1,1‐dimethyl­ethyl)benzamide at 150 K

The title compound, C₁₁H₁₅NO₂, crystallized in the centrosymmetric space group P2₁/n with one mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit. There is a single intermolecular hydrogen bond, in which the N_donor?O_acceptor distance is 3.0374 (11) Å and the N—H?O angle is 171.0 (12)°. The single intramol­ecular hydrogen bond has an O_donor?O_acceptor distance of 2.6279 (11) Å and an O—H?O angle of 161.8 (14)°. The four leading intermolecular C—H?O interactions have H?O distances ranging from 2.52 to 2.65 (2) Å and C—H?O angles ranging from 125.2 (9) to 143°. Chains of interactions form two‐dimensional networks.     

1H NMR studies on intramolecular hydrogen bonding in perchlorates of N-(pyridyl)amides of 6-methylpicolinic acid N-oxide

The ¹H NMR spectra of perchlorates of N-(pyridyl)amides of 6-methylpicolinic acid N-oxide (PYAP) in CD₃CN at 100 MHz show two proton signals belonging to two distinct intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The position of these signals is independent of concentration and temperature. That of the proton of the N? H ?O bond in PYAP is shifted to still lower field than in N-(pyridyl)amides of 6-methylpicolinic acid N-oxide (PYA) due to the inductive effect of the pyridine cation and the formation of another intramolecular hydrogen N⁺? H ?O bond. The proton of the N⁺? H ?O bond interacts strongly with its environment and is highly sensitive to traces of water. Presumably, water leads to dissociation of the intramolecular bond.     

Preparation of H-mordenite/MCM-48 composite and its catalytic performance in the alkylation of toluene with <Emphasis Type="Italic">tert</Emphasis>-butanol

A series of HM/MCM-48 samples with different SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio were prepared by sol-gel method. The prepared catalysts were characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, NH₃-TPD, FT-IR, SEM, and TEM techniques, and their catalytic performance was investigated in alkylation of toluene with tert-butanol. The adsorption capacity and the acid sites amount of HM/MCM-48-4 sample prepared by growing MCM-48 on the surface of HM zeolite are much higher than that of their mechanical mixture (HM/MCM-48(4) sample) due to its biporous structure; it shows higher catalytic performance than other HM/MCM-48 samples. The influence of reaction conditions on the catalytic performance of HM/MCM-48-4 zeolite was discussed. Toluene conversion of 41.4% and p-tert-butyltoluene selectivity of 73.5% were obtained at the weight ratio of toluene to HM/MCM-48-4 of 5, reaction temperature of 453 K, reaction time of 5 h and the molar ratio of toluene to tert-butanol of 0.5.     

Promotional effect of nitrogen-doped and pore structure for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen by Pd/C catalyst at ambient pressure

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon is potential support for directly synthesizing H₂O₂ from H₂ and O₂. Here, density functional theory (DFT) was used to study the effect of N-doped porous carbon on H₂O₂ directly synthesized. The theoretical calculation results showed that N-doped improved H₂O₂ productivity and H₂ conversion by increasing the dispersion of Pd nanoparticles and the Pd⁰/Pd²⁺ ratio. However, N-doped decreased H₂O₂ selectivity by reducing oxygen's dissociation energies. The experimental results showed that adjusting the pore structure of N-doped porous carbon could improve the adverse effects of N-doping for H₂O₂ selectivity. The H₂O₂ productivity and selectivity of Pd/C catalyst with a macropore-mesoporous-microporous hierarchical porous structure were up to 328.4 mol_H2O2·kg_cat^-1·h^?1 and 71.9 %, respectively, at ambient pressure. The macropore structure enhances the transfer and diffusion performance of the catalyst and effectively inhibits the effect of N-doping on OO bond dissociation, which improves H₂O₂ productivity and selectivity. This research provides a possible solution for designing a high-performance Pd/C catalyst to directly synthesize H₂O₂ from H₂ and O₂ at ambient pressure.     

Plasmonic O2 dissociation and spillover expedite selective oxidation of primary C–H bonds

Manipulating O₂ activation via nanosynthetic chemistry is critical in many oxidation reactions central to environmental remediation and chemical synthesis. Based on a carefully designed plasmonic Ru/TiO_2−x catalyst, we first report a room-temperature O₂ dissociation and spillover mechanism that expedites the “dream reaction” of selective primary C–H bond activation. Under visible light, surface plasmons excited in the negatively charged Ru nanoparticles decay into hot electrons, triggering spontaneous O₂ dissociation to reactive atomic ˙O. Acceptor-like oxygen vacancies confined at the Ru–TiO₂ interface free Ru from oxygen-poisoning by kinetically boosting the spillover of ˙O from Ru to TiO₂. Evidenced by an exclusive isotopic O-transfer from ¹⁸O₂ to oxygenated products, ˙O displays a synergistic action with native ˙O₂⁻ on TiO₂ that oxidizes toluene and related alkyl aromatics to aromatic acids with extremely high selectivity. We believe the intelligent catalyst design for desirable O₂ activation will contribute viable routes for synthesizing industrially important organic compounds.

Room-temperature O₂ dissociation and spillover, as driven by plasmonic Ru on oxygen-deficient TiO₂, expedite the selective oxidation of primary C–H bonds in alkyl aromatics for synthesizing industrially important organic compounds.     

N,N′‐Bis(2‐methoxy­benzyl­idene) adducts of ethane‐1,2‐di­amine,propane‐1,3‐di­amine and butane‐1,4‐di­amine

We have isolated and crystallographically characterized the three homologous compounds N,N′‐bis(2‐methoxy­benzyl­idene)­ethane‐1,2‐di­amine (MeSalen), C₁₈H₂₀N₂O₂, N,N′‐bis(2‐methoxy­benzyl­idene)­propane‐1,3‐di­amine (MeSalpr), C₁₉H₂₂N₂O₂, and N,N′‐bis(2‐methoxy­benzyl­idene)­butane‐1,4‐di­amine (MeSalbu), C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂. In contrast with MeSalpr, the mol­ecules of MeSalen and MeSalbu, which have an even number of methyl­ene units, have crystallographic symmetry. Comparing these methoxy‐substituted species with their hydroxy equivalents shows that the aryl rings rotate upon removal of the O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The packing of MeSalen and MeSalpr is controlled by C—H⋯π interactions, whereas that of MeSalbu has only van der Waals contacts.     

Analytical models for state-specific diatomic dissociation rate coefficients

Two analytical models are presented to approximate the temperature dependent, rotationally-averaged vibrational-state-specific dissociation rate coefficient for collisions between diatomic molecules and rare gas atoms at combustion temperatures. The new models are derived by making simplifying approximations to a more detailed theoretical model recently reported in the literature. For accuracy, the first model requires, for a given collision pair, knowledge of the maximum vibrational quantum number, a single vibrational-rotational energy and an interaction parameter for dissociation, all of which are tabulated in this article for collisions of Ar with p-H₂, O₂, N₂, and CO. This is in contrast to the recently reported theoretical model, which requires knowledge of all vibrational-rotational energies below the dissociation threshold, in addition to the interaction parameter for dissociation. The second model is simpler and more general than the first, but less accurate. To completely specify this model, knowledge of only the hard sphere cross section, and the characteristic temperatures for vibration and dissociation is required. The two analytical models are shown to agree well with the published theoretical values, with the accuracy of each model increasing with increasing temperature. The present models provide an accurate and efficient means of computing thousands or millions of rate coefficients for use in numerical simulations of combustion processes that couple kinetic equations with the governing equations of fluid dynamics. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.