Date of Award

12-1998

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Dr. James A. Howell

Second Advisor

Dr. Ralph Steinhaus

Third Advisor

Dr. Michael E. McCarville

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Chlorine has been widely used in industry. One of the most common uses of chlorine is in municipal water treatment plants. Chlorine reacts with a variety of organic compounds, among these are phenol and its derivatives which are commonly found in natural waters. When these compounds react with chlorine, a variety of chlorine substituted and oxidized products result depending on concentrations, pH, and temperature. In order to study these reactions it is necessary to separate and determine the various products produced.

Earlier studies have shown 3-chloro and 4-chlorophenol cannot be separated by commercial GLC columns. GC/MS (electron impact) measurements cannot resolve the problem since ionization removes the chlorine first and the resulting mass spectrum of both compounds is that of phenol. Costly GC/FTIR and gradient elution HPLC instrumentation is adequate, but more complex mixtures likely would require a greater degree of resolution.

In view of the above problems it was felt that capillary zone electrophoresis might provide a better alternative in terms of time, cost of analysis, resolution, and possible sensitivity.

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