LAUSR

The article by Ma et al. (2017). on the reactions of peroxydisulfate with phenol is remarkable in its disregard of the relevant literature. The authors report the effect of temperature on the rate of disappearance of peroxydisulfate and the derived change in activation energy without consideration of the chemistry involved. First, the thermal degradation of peroxydisulfate alone has been reviewed through 1980 (Behrman and Edwards, 1980). Second, the chemistry of the phenol-peroxydisulfate reaction in the alkaline range is known as the Elbs oxidation (it was discovered in 1893!) and last reviewed in 2006 (Behrman, 1988, 2006). There is also a review on the general chemistry of peroxydisulfate in The Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis listed under Ammonium