FLY-ASH MEDIATED (OXY)CHLORINATION OF PHENOL AND ITS ROLE IN PCDD F FORMATION/

Phenol and monochlorophenols easily form higher chlorinated analogues (polychlorophenols, PCPs) when passed over fixed beds of MSW fly ash a t 550 +/- 130 K, tau ca. 0.5 s, together with humid air and HCl. Rates are much higher than that for oxidation of HCl (Deacon reaction) in a bsence of phenols. A ''traditional' 21 electron oxidation of a phenox yl and a chloride ligand mediated by e.g. 2 Cu(II) species is advanced as the mechanism. Condensation of two PCP entities to PCDD is slower, as is the oxychlorination of (PC)DD. This phenol-based chemistry is i nsignificant for formation of PCDFs.