Elucidation of methyl tert-butyl ether degradation with Fe2+/H2O2 by purge-and-trap gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) with Fe2+/H2O2 was studied by purge-and-trap gas chromatography-mass C spectrometry. MTBE was degraded 99% within 120 min under optimum conditions. MTBE was firstly degraded rapidly based on a Fe2+/H2O2 reaction and then relatively slower based on a Fe3+/(HO2)-O-2 reaction. The dissolved oxygen decreased rapidly in the Fe2+/H2O2 reaction stage, but showed a slow increase in the Fe3+/H2O2 reaction stage. tert-Butyl formate, tert-butyl alcohol, methyl acetate and acetone were identified as primary degradation products by mass spectrometry. A preliminary reaction mechanism involving two different pathways for the degradation of MTBE with Fe2+/H2O2 was proposed. This study suggests that degradation of MTBE can be achieved using the Fe2+/H2O2 process. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.