Development of a decontamination system for decomposing N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine

The study has specified the influence of activators on the decomposition of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine under the effect of hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide. As decontamination systems, potassium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid, cetylpyridinium chloride and monoethanolamine borate were considered. It has been shown that boric acid is an effective activator of hydrogen peroxide as α-nucleophile in the micellar decontamination system of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine. It has been found that N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine does not enter the splitting reaction at high pH without the involvement of activating agents. At pH 13, the expected half-period of decomposition of the substrate by the nucleophilic mechanism is about 3 hours. The study has shown that hydrogen peroxide, cetylpyridinium chloride, and boric acid provide favorable conditions for nucleophilic attack on the organophosphorus compound at decontamination of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine in the alkali system due to the formation of micelles and the activation of the mechanism of forming peroxide ions. In this system, the rate constant of the second order is twice higher than in the unactivated system. It has been established that monoethanolamine borate does not have any significant activating effect on micellar nucleophilic catalysis in the degradation of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine. The optimal conditions of decontaminating N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine in the micellar decontamination system have been determined to be as follows: 0.25 mol/L of the concentration of cythylpyridinium chloride and 0.15 mol/L of the concentration of boric acid. It has been proven that an important condition is the pH of the system, which should be in the range from 10.5 to 11.5. It is concluded that the study of decomposing N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine in soft micellar catalysis has a theoretical and significant application value due to the minimization of risks associated with the production, use and disposal of organophosphorus compounds.