Resumen de Degradation of Environmental Contaminants with Water-Soluble Cobalt Catalysts: An Integrative Inorganic Chemistry Investigation

Alexandra L. Evans, Reid E. Messersmith, David B. Green, Joseph M. Fritsch

• We present an integrative laboratory investigation incorporating skills from inorganic chemistry, analytical instrumentation, and physical chemistry applied to a laboratory-scale model of the environmental problem of chlorinated ethylenes in groundwater. Perchloroethylene (C2Cl4, PCE) a common dry cleaning solvent, undergoes sequential replacement of Cl with H to trichloroethylene (C2HCl3) and subsequently cis-dichloroethylene (C2H2Cl2) through catalytic reductive dechlorination with water-soluble cobalt complexes. PCE degradation is monitored by gas chromatography and the first-order rate constants are determined. Experimental conditions may be varied to optimize chlorinated ethylene dechlorination and explore the important parameters governing degradation. Students work with reduction−oxidation active compounds and analyze “real-world” kinetic data sets.