The Kinetic Study of the Chemical Oscillating System of 1,3-Propanediol/Acetone as the Organic Substrate

The study of oscillating chemical reactions has been dominated by the Belousov-Zhabotinskii (BZ) reaction. It is also called the chemical clock, which is similar to the biological clock. When the chemical reaction is far from equilibrium, the concentration of some substances in the reaction system exhibits a regular change with time, a kind of self-regulating function similar to what happens in an organism. During the last 10 to 20 years, vitamin C, glucose, lactic acid, fructose, amino acid, lactose, malic acid and ethanol have been reported2−17to be very important reaction substrates in oscillation reactions; they also play an important role in the synthesis of cell substances in life. As pharmaceutical intermediates and additives, 1,3-propanediol has been used in the pharmaceutical industry and clinically for curing many diseases. In the present work we report a new bromate oscillator using 1,3-propanediol and acetone as the mixed organic substrates. The temperature effects on the oscillations of this system and the initial concentration range of the reactants in the oscillating system have been examined. The relationships between the oscillation periods and the substrate concentrations have been studied. The oscillating characteristic and a cycle oscillating mechanism have been studied.