chemical engineering since Decem.ber 1969. He studied at the same Uniuersity and obtained the degree in chemical engineering i n 1955: in 1960 he receiued the emee of doctor of tech-Zd,, , nical sciences on the subject: fading by light of anthraquinoid mordant dyes. He authored several papers, for example, in the fields ofphotoreduction of azo dyes and fading by light of organic dyes o f textiles. He is a member of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society. Pieter M. Heertjes studied at the Uniuersity of Technology, Delft, obtained the degree in chemical engineering in 1932 and the degree of doctor of technical sciences in 1938. I n 1973 h e became Doctor H.C. o f Loughborough Uniuersity of Technology. After a short period as a lecturer he took the chair o f ordinary Professor in chemical engineering at the Uniuersity of Technology, Delft, i n 1946. He was President of the Roval Dutch Chemical Societv and is a member of several societies including The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Chemical Society. His scientific field.? of interest are chemical engineering and dyestuffs. 270 Ind. Eng. Chem.. Prod. Res. De"., VoI. 16, No. 4, 1977The initiation of aldehyde autoxidations in acetic acid has been investigated under circumstances where the radical chain processes were inhibited. Phenol, 4-methylphenol, and 2,6-di-feff-butyl-4-methylphenol were used as inhibitors. It was found that the initiation reactions were combinations of a photochemical and, particularly at higher temperatures, a bimolecular thermal process. The thermal reaction is responsible for the influence of oxygen on the overall autoxidation rates. Oxidation of benzaldehyde in the presence of 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol led to the conversion of the latter into its hydroperoxy-and benzoylperoxy derivatives, thus confirming its activity as scavenger of peroxy chain radicals. Uninhibited autoxidations were second order in the aldehyde concentrations for cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde and halogen substituted aldehydes. Other aldehydes gave firstorder reactions. These results, together with those obtained for the initiation reaction, give information regarding the nature of the chain termination reactions.