The possibility of explosion of a compressed oxygen bubble in liquid cyclohexane due to interaction with a spherical shock wave emitted by a nearby exploded bubble has been experimentally and theoretically investigated. Calculations for the explosion limits of a single bubble have been performed too. It is shown that in order to prevent bubble explosions inside a chemical reactor, the operating conditions (temperature and pressure) should be within a certain range. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.