| Abstract: | A nickel boride reagent, prepared in situ by the reaction of nickel chloride with sodium borohydride, has been used to hydrodechlorinate and hydrogenate chloroaromatic compounds. The same reagent can also dechlorinate chloro-olefinic compounds but chloroalkanes do not react. The reactions can be sustained by addition of hydrogen gas and the ratio of the aromatic to aliphatic hydrocarbons produced can be varied by addition of sodium hydroxide to the reaction mixture and by the duration of the reaction. The reactivity of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), chlorobenzene and tetrachloroethylene have been studied. Capillary gas chromatography was used to follow the course of reactions and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) was used for product identification. |
