Conversion of Pollutants in Dilute Aqueous Waste Streams to Useful Products: a Potential Method Based on Phase-Transfer Catalysis

Many waste streams contain anions at low concentration in water. This paper describes results obtained when aqueous solutions of various anions at 1 wt % were subjected to reactions with alkyl and acyl halides without solvent. High yields of valuable products such as phenylacetonitrile, alkyl phenyl ethers, alkyl acrylate, and benzoyl cyanide were obtained at moderate temperatures and reaction times. The formation of byproducts deriving from reactions with large amounts of water was easily controlled. The method was successfully applied to selectively react and extract a target anion out of a mixture of anions.