The initial chlorination kinetics of several substituted dihydroxybenzenes, including chlorinated resorcinol compounds, was studied over the pH range of 2-12 at 22° C. For each of the resorcinol substrates, the apparent chlorination rates are a minimum in the pH range of 3-6 and a maximum at pH values between 8-11. A mechanism that involves the reaction of HOCl with ArX (OH) 2, ArX (OH) O-, and ArX (O-) 2, and an acid-catalyzed pathway at ...