Actually, this suggested preparation is based on actual (and unexpected) observed behavior of such a oxidizing solution I once created via photolysis
(it bleached the hell out of part of the flooring in an old shower in my basement that I have been unable to replicate since with strong chlorine
bleach). I did, however, prepare the Hypochlorous acid differently, via acetic acid on NaClO. The Sodium acetate was not removed as there was no
distillation performed.
It should be noted that with sunlight, the reaction:
HOCl --uv--> HCl + O
has been reported to proceed more rapidly in the presence of Tartaric or Citric acid, which apparently act as catalysts (see "A comprehensive treatise
on inorganic and theoretical chemistry", Volume 2, by Joseph William Mellor, top of page 82, where to quote: "According to C. Lowig,{27} bromine water
in light behaves in a similar way to that of chlorine water, but as J. M. Eder showed, bromine water is much less sensitive to light in that it
decomposes with but one-sixth or one-twelfth the speed of chlorine water. The presence of tartaric or citric acid accelerates the decomposition of
chlorine or bromine water in light." Link: http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&id=An... ).
My recent readings also note in general that organic compounds in water generally (and acetic acid, I would guess in particular) appear to promote the
formation of hydroxyl radicals (and therein, HClO3 in addition per the action of radicals discussed above). See, for example, "Chemistry of Marine
Water and Sediments", edited by Antonio Gianguzza, Ezio Pelizzetti, Silvio Sammartano,.. , page 90, at https://books.google.com/books?id=DacPIDoNaNQC&pg=PA90&a... detailing the formation of H2O2, which can produce hydroxyl radical under
photolysis.
Now, I also even recall one paper discussing the formation of even perchlorates via photolysis. See, for example, "Perchlorate production by
photodecomposition of aqueous chlorine solutions", abstract at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22962844 .
So bottom line in my opinion, there appears to be some observations and theory suggesting that one may be able indeed to create quite a strong acid
via HOCl, an organic catalyst (I would revise my suggested preparation above with the addition of a mix of critic or acetic acid on NaClO), good uv
exposure (using the presence of snow , for example) and a good amount of time.
[Edited on 20-1-2015 by AJKOER] |
