Electrocatalytic dechlorination of atrazine

Abstract

Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine), a photosynthetic inhibitor that is used in large quantities for weed control in corn and sorghum, is dechlorinated in aqueous solution upon electrolysis at a reticulated vitreous carbon cathode in the presence of noble-metal catalysts. Electrocatalytic hydrogenolysis to 2-ethylamino-4-isopropylamino-s-triazine occurs in quantitative yield, and is most efficient with palladium-based catalysts. Current efficiency increases with atrazine and catalyst concentration, and decreasing current density. A previously unobserved phenomenon with Pd catalysts is that current must be passed for a certain time before dechlorination commences. This lag time is explained in terms of the palladium lattice absorbing a finite amount of hydrogen before catalytically active hydrogen atoms appear on the catalyst surface.Key words: electrocatalytic hydrogenoloysis, dechlorination, atrazine, palladium catalysts.