Laser-Induced Photochemical Reaction of Maleic Acid Solutions in the Presence of Hydrogen Peroxide

Abstract

Targeting the selective and direct synthesis of tartaric acid (TA), the photochemical reactions of maleic acid (MA) solutions containing H₂O₂. in various solvents have been investigated using four wavelengths in the UV region between 193 and 351 nm, with high intensity from an excimer laser. All the laser irradiations in H₂O resulted in the direct synthesis of TA with lower selectivity and it was found that, with XeF-laser (351 nm) irradiation in 1,4-dioxane, TA is selectively and directly synthesized from MA containing H₂O₂ of lower concentration at room temperature. On the other hand, none of the irradiations in methanol, N,N-dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, and tetrahydrofuran gave the selective formation of TA. On the basis of these results, the reaction scheme for the selective formation of TA is discussed.