Surface-mediated formation of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans from the high-temperature pyrolysis of 2-bromophenol on a CuO/silica surface.

We studied the surface-mediated pyrolytic thermal degradation of 2-bromophenol, a model brominated hydrocarbon that may form brominated dioxins in combustion and thermal processes, on silica-supported copper oxide in a 1 mm i.d., fused silica flow reactor at a constant concentration of 88 ppm over a temperature range of 250-550 degrees C. Observed products included dibenzo-p-dioxin (DD), 1-monobromodibenzo-p-dioxin (1-MBDD), dibromo-dibenzo-p-dioxin (DBDD),tribromodibenzo-p-dioxin (TrBDD), 4-monobromodibenzofuran (4-MBDF), dibenzofuran (DF), 2,4,6-tribromophenol, 2,4- and 2,6-dibromophenol, and polybrominated benzenes. These results are compared and contrasted with previous work on surface-catalyzed pyrolysis of 2-chlorophenol. Polybrominated dibenzofurans (PBDFs) are formed by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, and the formation of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs) is through an Eley-Rideal mechanism. Yields of PBDDs are at least 16x greater for 2-bromophenol than for analogous PCDDs from 2-chlorophenol. Higher yields of polybrominated phenols and polybrominated benzenes are also observed. This can be attributed to the relative ease of bromination over chlorination and the higher concentration of bromine atoms in the 2-bromophenol system versus chlorine atoms for the 2-chlorophenol system.