Hydrolytic Cleavage of Paraoxon by Octanohydroxamate Ion in Cationic Microemulsions

The hydrolysis reaction of O,O‐diethyl O‐p‐nitrophenylphosphate (Paraoxon) with the octanohydroxamate ion (OHA^?) was studied in a cationic oil‐in‐water (O/W) microemulsion system over a pH range 7.5–12.0 at 300 K. The O/W systems are stabilized by using cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and n‐butanol as cosurfactants. In a microemulsion, the rate enhancement by OHA^? is greater toward the cleavage of paraoxon than its spontaneous (2.1 × 10⁷ s^?1) hydrolysis. The k_obs values for the reaction of paraoxon with OHA^? were determined in different microemulsion compositions with varying chain length of alcohols (n‐butanol, n‐pentanol, n‐octanol, and n‐dodecanol) and alkanes (n‐hexane, n‐heptane, and n‐decane). The effects of water content, pH, and size of the oil pool have been discussed.