Oxidation of Aqueous Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine by Calcium Hypochlorite or Hydrogen Peroxide/ Copper Sulfate

Abstract

The oxidative destruction of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) by a molar excess of Ca(OCl)₂ leads mainly to formaldehyde dimethylhydrazone and tetramethyl tetrazene, but not to N-nitrosodi-methylamine (NDMA). An alternate method using H₂O₂/CuSO₄ leads to ca. 25% NDMA. The amount of UDMH destroyed is affected by the order of addition of the H₂O₂, and CuSO₄: when the CuSO₄ is added first, only ca. 65% of the UDMH is destroyed, while the reverse order of addition leads to 100% destruction of UDMH.