Effect of Polymer and Surfactant‐Polymer Couples on the Acid-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Phenyl Urea

The mechanism of the hydrolysis decomposition of phenyl urea in acid, polymer, and surfactant‐polymer media was investigated, the addition‐elimination mechanism with rate determining attack of water at N‐protonated substrate having already been studied. This study has introduced the polymer PEG (MW‐400) and (surfactant‐polymer) (ceteyl trimethyl ammonium bromide‐poly ethylene glycol) (CTAB‐PEG), (cetyl pyridinium bromide‐polyethylene glycol) (CPC‐PEG) (sodium dodecyl sulphate‐poly ethylene glycol) (SDS‐PEG), (Triton X‐100‐poly ethylene glycol) (TX‐100‐PEG), and (Brij35‐poly ethylene glycol) (Brij35‐PEG) in acid media. The results indicate that the presence of polymer and surfactant‐polymer enhances the rate of reaction at 80°C in the presence of 0.9 M H₂SO₄. Kinetic studies show that the reaction obeyed first‐order kinetics. The reaction kinetics can be well explained by micellar catalysis models like the PPIE.

Keywords:

• Polymer
• surfactant
• phenyl urea hydrolysis

Acknowledgment

The authors are thankful to Prof. B. S. Narang, Director, Bhilai Institute of Technology, for facilities.