Tutorial Modeling the Degradation of s-Triazine Herbicides in Soil

When reaction rate equations can be given for the individual steps of a reaction sequence, a detailed modeling of product development over time can be made  

The reaction rate equations give differential equations that can be solved with methods such as the Runge-Kutta [14] integration or the Gear algorithm [15]. 

This allows one to predict the change in concentration of all the reaction partners and products over time. 

1 6 Tutorial Modeling the Degradation oFs-Triazine Herbicides in Soil [16] 

The half-lives for these four compounds taken from the literature allowed the estimation of the Four reaction rates necessai to model their degradation [18], As a first approximation, the rate of hydrolysis of the C-Cl bond of all Four, -triazine compounds was assumed to be the same and to be 5.0 x 10 s on the basis of literature precedence. This approximation seems reasonable as the four structures differ only in the alkyl groups at a site quite remote from the C-CI bond. Furthermore, among the Four reaction steps hydrolysis is the slowest anyway. 

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