Hydrolysis of tert-butyl methyl ether (MTBE) in dilute aqueous acid

tert-Butyl methyl ether (MTBE) is generally considered to be resistant to chemical transformation in aqueous solution. This lack of reactivity has led to concerns of the long-term impacts of MTBE in groundwater. Although hydrolysis in the presence of strong acids has been recognized as a mechanism for MTBE transformation, it has been discounted as a significant reaction under environmental conditions. In this study, we have examined the fate of MTBE and other ether oxygenates under moderately acidic conditions (> or=pH 1). The results demonstrate that MTBE is sensitive to acid-catalyzed hydrolysis reaction that generates tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) and methanol as products. The reaction is first-order with respect to the concentration of MTBE and hydronium ion with a second-order rate constant of about 0.9 x 10(-2) M(-1) h(-1) at 26 degrees C. Commercially available acidic ion-exchange resins were also shown to catalyze the hydrolysis of MTBE at near neutral pH. Pseudo-first-order rate constants were observed to be as high as 0.03 h(-1) at 25 degrees C and 0.12 h(-1) at 35 degrees C. These findings are discussed in terms of their possible implications for the treatment and environmental fate of MTBE and other gasoline oxygenates.