CHED 848 |
| Phillip Flanders, Lanhua Hu, Timothy J. Strathmann, and Penney L. Miller. |
| The increased presence of sulfamethoxazole in aquatic systems is of concern because little is known about its impact on the environment. Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysis is effective at degrading sulfamethoxazole in UVA light (l > 324 nm), and the reactive pathway likely involves the hydroxyl radical. Insight into reaction pathways can be achieved by identifying intermediates and products. Products that could not be identified with HPLC/photodiode detection were subjected to GC/MS and LC/MS analysis. Polar intermediates were made more amenable to detection by GC/MS through a one-pot extractive methylation procedure. This method successfully derivatized benzoic acid and aniline. When applied to samples, derivatized product analysis suggested cleavage of sulfamethoxazole's benzene ring. Corresponding evidence for attack on the benzene ring was obtained by LC/MS, which suggested addition of hydroxyl radical to the aromatic ring. Semi-empirical calculations were performed to predict the sites most susceptible to hydroxyl radical attack. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, 27 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- Ex. Hall B4, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |