Reductive activation of dioxygen for degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether by bifunctional aluminum.

Bifunctional aluminum is prepared by sulfating aluminum metal with sulfuric acid. The use of bifunctional aluminum to degrade methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in the presence of dioxygen has been examined using batch systems. Primary degradation products were tert-butyl alcohol, tert-butyl formate, acetone, and methyl acetate. The initial rate of MTBE degradation exhibited pseudo-first-order behavior, and the half-life of reaction was less than 6 h. XPS analysis indicates the formation of sulfate at the surface of bifunctional aluminum. The concentration of surface sulfate varies linearly with increasing strength of the sulfuric acid used during bifunctional aluminum preparation. The rate of MTBE degradation is a function of the concentration of the surface sulfate. MTBE degradation rates increased by a factor of 2 as surface sulfate concentrations increased from 233 to 641 micromol/m2. This relationship implies that sulfate at the surface of bifunctional aluminum acts as a reactive site.