Abstract
The reaction of bromate, chlorite, and iodide ions in a stirred tank reactor involves two independently oscillatory reactions (Br03“-r and C102--I-) chemically coupled through common iodine-containing species. A 20-step mechanism, constructed by combining and slightly modifying the mechanisms of the component oscillators, is proposed for the coupled system. Numerical simulations give good agreement not only with the behavior of the bromate-iodide and chlorite-iodide reactions but also with the new dynamical behavior, i.e., birhythmicity and compound oscillation, found in the full bromate-chlorite-iodide system. Several new regions, which should be accessible by appropriately designed experiments, are predicted to exist in the phase diagram of the coupled system.