Supercritical fluid extraction and on-line hydrodechlorination of chlorinated biphenyls catalyzed by polymer-stabilized palladium nanoparticles

Polychlorinated biphenyls spiked in soil can be extracted by a continuous flow supercritical fluid carbon dioxide system and converted on-line to bicyclohexyl using a polymer-stabilized palladium nanoparticle catalyst. The catalytic hydrodechlorination of 4-chlorobiphenyl to biphenyl follows a pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. The subsequent hydrogenation of biphenyl to bicyclohexyl involves two steps with cyclohexylbenzene as an intermediate. The hydrogenation reactions also follow pseudo-first-order kinetics and the rate constants are given in this paper.