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Formation of benzene
Hi. Can you help me with the balanced reaction of ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate to produce benzene?
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5 Replies
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The reacción is available online in few places. Now, Just as a reference, that reaction require very specific conditions that are not that common in cosmetics. I remember that phenomenom was found in some drinks which have a very low pH. So be careful to understand first the chemistry behind it.
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Actually I am also a formulator in a pharmaceutical company and I am trying to find what amount of ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate will produce 5ppb of benzene. One of our clients express their concern about using sodium benzoate as preservative where there is a presence of ascorbic acid since the combination of the two will produce benzene which is carcinogenic.
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I second what @ketchito said. That reaction is usually catalyzed by copper coordinate in alkali medium. Research it yourself if this is merely an academic exercise, but that reaction outcome is unlikely to occur within a cosmetic formulation in situ.
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Thank you for this. I tried researching yesterday, but I couldn’t find any, hence the question here. I will try to be thorough next time.
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