Abstract: Degradation of phenol irradiated with a xenon lamp was studied in the presence of sodium oxalateFenton reagent. Effects of light, the initial concentrations of H₂O₂、C₂O^2-₄、Fe^{2+ and pH value on the reactions were investigated. The result shows that C₂O2-₄ can effectively intensify the effect of the Fenton reagent, and under the following conditions, that is, pH=4.0, c(H2O2)=0.735 1 mmol/L, c(Na2C2O4)=0.074 63 mmol/L, c(Fe2+)=0.053 6 mmol/L, the degradation rate of phenol with a mass concent ration of 0.595 2 mmol/L was 76.5% under simulated sunlight irradiation for 90 min and the degradation course obeyed the　 one order kinetic equation.The main intermediates were also identified by GCMS,and they were organic acid and benzoquinone.}

Key words: phenols, photodegradation, Fenton reagent