Oxidative degradation of p-toluenesulfonic acid using hydrogen peroxide

The oxidative degradation of p-toluenesulfonic acid using thermally activated hydrogen peroxide was investigated. The concentrations of all aromatic and aliphatic intermediates were determined by means of HPLC. From the identification of all intermediates, a detailed reaction mechanism for the oxidative degradation of p-toluenesulfonic acid is proposed. Experiments show that the oxidation with hydrogen peroxide is an effective process for the destruction of organic pollutants. Only substoichiometric amounts of hydrogen peroxide are required to convert this refractory model compound to easily biodegradable substances.