Terephthalate and Fricke dosimetry have been carried out to determine the sonolytic energy yields of the OH free radical and of its recombination product H2O2 in aqueous solutions under various operating conditions (nature of operating gas, power, frequency, temperature). For example, in the sonolysis of Ar-saturated terephthalate solutions at room temperature, a frequency of 321 kHz, and a power of 170 W kg-1, the total yield [G(.OH) + 2 G(H2O2)], equals 16 x 10(-10) mol J-1. This represents the total of .OH that reach the liquid phase from gas phase of the cavitating bubble. The higher the solute concentration, the lower the H2O2 production as more of the OH free radicals are scavenged, in competition with their recombination. Fricke dosimetry, in the absence and presence of Cu2+ ions, shows that the yield of H atom reaching the liquid phase is much lower, with G(H.) of the order of 3 x 10(-10) mol J-1. These sonolytic yields are smaller in solutions that are at the point of gas saturation, and increase to an optimum as the initial sonication-induced degassing and effervescence subsides. The probing of the sonic field has shown that the rate of sonolytic free-radical formation may vary across the sonicated volume depending on frequency and power input.

A product study of the sonolysis of the volatile substrate t-butanol in aqueous solution indicates that substrate decomposition is practically completely determined, even at concentrations as low as millimolar, by oxidative pyrolysis going on in the gas phase within the collapsing cavitational bubble. OH-Radical-induced reactions in solution are insignificant since the volatility of this substrate, its gas-phase concentration within the bubble enhanced by a certain degree of hydrophobicity, causes OH radicals generated thermolytically from water vapour to be intercepted before they can reach the aqueous phase. The nature of the products, as well as the t-butanolconcentration dependence of the product yields, can be qualitatively explained on the basis of the t-butanol-pyrolysis mechanism. Kinetic considerations involving the relative yields of the pyrolysis products ethane, ethylene and acetylene lead to an estimate of a value of 3600 K for the average pyrolysis temperature at a t-butanol bulk concentration of 10 Ϫ3 molar.

Hydroxyl radicals, generated radiolytically in N2O/O2‐saturated solutions, yield in their reaction with atrazine equal amounts of deethylatrazine and acetaldehyde (40% of OH radical yield) and deisopropylatrazine and acetone (16%), respectively. The precursors of deethylatrazine and acetaldehyde is their Schiff base which hydrolyzes slowly (OH–‐catalyzed: k = 5.2 dm3 mol–1 s–1). The hydrolysis of the Schiff base of deisopropylatrazine and acetone is too fast to be detected. In a pulse radiolysis experiment, the intermediate formed upon OH‐radical attack (k = 3·109 dm3 mol–1 s–1) has a strong absorption at 440 nm. It decays in the presence of oxygen (k = 1.3·109 dm3 mol–1 s–1), and upon deprotonation [pKa(peroxyl radicals) ≈ 10.5] the peroxyl radicals thus‐formed eliminate superoxide radicals (k = 2.9·105 s–1). s‐Triazine itself reacts much more slowly with OH radicals (k = 9.7·107 dm3 mol–1 s–1). This can explain, why in the case of atrazine in comparison to other aromatic compounds, e.g. toluene, the addition of the OH radical to the ring (estimated at ca. 40%) is of relatively little importance as compared to an H‐abstraction from (activated) positions of the side groups.

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The sonolysis of 4-nitrophenol in argon-saturated aqueous solution has been studied at 321 kHz. In order to evaluate separately the effect of OH radicals that are formed in the cavitational bubble and part of which react in the aqueous phase with this substrate, radiolytic studies in N2O-saturated solutions were carried out for comparison. A detailed product study of the sonolysis of 4-nitrophenol solutions shows that at pH 10, where 4-nitrophenol is deprotonated (pKa = 7.1), its sonolytic degradation is fully accounted for by OH-radical-induced reactions in the aqueous phase. At this pH, the sonolytic yield of H2O2 resulting from OH radical recombination in the solution, measured as a function of the 4-nitrophenol concentration, is reduced in line with the scavenging capacity of the 4-nitrophenolate. In contrast, at pH 4 the formation of H2O2 is already fully suppressed when the solution is 7 x 10(-4) mol dm-3 in 4-nitrophenol, and oxidative-pyrolytic degradation predominates, as exemplified by the large yields of CO and CO2 which are accompanied by a large H2 yield. The basis of this difference in behavior is a hydrophobic enrichment of 4-nitrophenol (which is undissociated at pH 4) at the interface of the cavitational bubble by a factor of about 80. The pH dependence of the yields of the pyrolytic products reflects the hydrolytic equilibrium concentration of 4-nitrophenol. The paper also demonstrates that the complexity of this sonochemical system precludes its use a gauge to determine the temperature in the interior of the cavitational bubble.