I. Kinetic and mechanistic studies of the thermal decomposition of glycolate and N-nitrosoiminodiacetic acid in aqueous basic salt solutions. II. Phase transfer catalysis in supercritical fluids

Part I. An investigation as to the origins of the episodical gas release from an underground nuclear waste storage tank (Tank 241-SY-101) at the Hanford Site, in the State of Washington, was undertaken. The focus of the investigation was on the kinetics and mechanism of model reaction systems. In particular, the thermal decomposition of sodium glycolate in an aqueous alkaline media containing NaNO;The data from these studies supported a proposed mechanism for the thermal decomposition of glycolate with respect to the kinetic order of glycolate, nitrite, and aluminate. Additionally, the products obtained from the thermal decomposition of glycolate were accounted for by the proposed mechanism.;Part II. Phase transfer catalysis (PTC) is an excellent technique for conducting heterogeneous reaction processes in which anions must be transported from an aqueous or a solid phase to a reaction phase. An important advantage to this technique is the ability to avoid environmental problems, toxicity problems, and solvent purification cexpandosts encountered in the use of solvents. This research employs a supercritical fluid in place of an organic phase in a phase transfer catalyzed reaction. The investigation centered on a solid-supercritical CO;The reaction system investigated was the bromide ion displacement of chloride from benzyl chloride. The reaction was conducted in supercritical CO...