Comportement de quelques acides gras et esters d'acides gras en milieu eau de mer chloree.

When chlorine is added into seawater at the ppm level, among the fatty acids and the esters of the same class, only the unsaturated compounds are reactive towards the halogen; the degradation rate mainly depends on the acidity of the sample and on the hydrophobicity of the organic species. Unsaturation and reactivity are related but the nature of the lipid (acid or ester) and the length of the aliphatic chain are more important parameters than the number and the position of the double bonds of the ion or the molecule. Moreover data suggest that the greatest part of the consumed halogen is used up in complex oxidation reactions and not in simple addition reactions across the π bonds.