Properties and reactivity of chlorovinylcobalamin and vinylcobalamin and their implications for vitamin B12-catalyzed reductive dechlorination of chlorinated alkenes

Vitamin B12-catalyzed reductive dechlorination of perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) is a potential strategy for cleanup of polluted environments. Presented are crystal structures of vinylcobalamin 2 and cis-chlorovinylcobalamin 1. They show a strong resistance toward photolysis. Reduction of 2 is difficult, but reduction of 1 occurs readily and produces 2. The mechanism of this latter reaction involves acetylene as an intermediate. These and other findings are discussed in the context of environmental studies on B12-catalyzed dechlorination of PCE and TCE and investigations of the haloalkene reductive dehalogenases that catalyze similar reactions.     

Dichloroacetylene is not the precursor to dichlorinated vinylcobaloxime and vinylcobalamin in cobalt catalyzed dechlorination of perchloro- and trichloroethylene

Vitamin B(12) catalyzes the reductive dechlorination of perchloroethylene (PCE), a process for which vinylcobalamins have been proposed as intermediates. Previous model studies have shown that PCE and trichloroethlylene (TCE) react with cob(I)aloxime to form cis-1,2-dichlorovinylcobaloxime (1). This compound could be formed by nucleophilic vinylic substitution of cob(I)aloxime on TCE or its syn-addition to dichloroacetylene. To evaluate the latter possibility, dichloroacetylene was reacted in this study with cob(I)aloxime. The major product was not complex 1 but a novel cobalt complex, indicating that dichloroacetylene is not involved in the reductive dechorination of PCE catalyzed by cob(I)aloxime. An X-ray structure of the major product was obtained showing an unexpected tricyclic structure in which one of the carbons of dichloroacetylene is a ligand to the metal and the second carbon has formed a C-C bond to one of the oxime carbons. This arrangement connects the axial and equatorial ligands. The cathodic peak potential of this complex is significantly more negative than that of previously characterized chlorinated vinylcobaloximes. Cob(I)alamin also reacts with chloroacetylene to provide cis-chlorovinylcobalamin in analogy to cob(I)aloxime, but it does not provide dichlorinated vinylcobalamins in the reaction with dichloroacetylene. Hence, dichlorinated vinylcobalt complexes detected in the reductive dechlorination of PCE catalyzed by cobaloximes or vitamin B(12) are not derived from a dichloroacetylene intermediate.     

Reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) catalyzed by cyanocobalamin

A biomimetic system has been developed for the reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene (PCE). PCE was dechlorinated to trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE) in the presence of dithiothreitol or Ti (III) citrate and catalytic amounts of cyanocobalamin in both homogeneous reaction mixtures and packed bed reactor systems. In packed bed reactors with Ti (III) citrate as the reductant, PCE (0.18 mM) conversion averaged 55% at residence times of 1.75 and 3.5 h. The product distribution was 94% TCE and 6% DCE at the lower residence time. DCE formation increased to 45% at the higher residence time. No reduction of PCE was observed in the absence of cyanocobalamin. This system may be useful as a means of pretreatment of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons in advance of biological treatment.     

Prediction of Redox Potentials and Isomer Distribution Yields for Reductive Dechlorination of Chlorobenzenes

Abstract

Gibbs free energies of reductive dechlorination processes of chlorobenzenes are calculated from thermodynamic data. The results are utilized to predict redox potentials and isomer distribution yields.

The model predicts a standard redox potential of 0.680 V for the reduction of hexachlorobenzene to pentachlorobenzene, tapering off to 0.535 V for the reduction of monochlorobenzene to benzene. It is shown that under anaerobic conditions, reductive dechlorination is more likely to occur, while aerobic conditions favour the formation of chlorophenols.

An isomer distribution yield is predicted for each of the reductive dechlorination processes of chlorobenzenes. Predicted yields correspond to experimental values within 10%. The model includes a possibility to establish a temperature dependence of the relative isomer yields.     

Monitoring and evaluation of dechlorination processes using compound-specific chlorine isotope analysis

A simple, quick and sensitive method for the compound-specific stable chlorine isotope analysis of chlorinated solvents by conventional quadrupole gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is presented. With this method, compound-specific stable chlorine isotope ratios of typical chlorinated solvents like tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) can be determined quantitatively within 30 min by direct injection. The chlorine isotope ratios of target substances are calculated from the peak areas of several selected molecular ions and fragment ions of the substances, using a set of unique mathematical equations. The precision of the method was demonstrated through reproducibility tests. An internal precision of +/-0.4 per thousand to +/-1.1 per thousand was obtained when analyzing PCE and TCE in the 10-1000 pmol range. The validity of the method was further demonstrated by determining the chlorine isotopic fractionation factor during the reductive dechlorination of TCE in a batch experiment using zero-valent iron. The chlorine isotopic fractionation factor was calculated as 0.9976 +/- 0.0011 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9469 (n = 38). The high correlation coefficient indicates that compound-specific stable chlorine isotope analysis can be performed with sufficient accuracy using conventional quadrupole GC/MS when significant fractionation takes place during a reaction. For the first time, the chlorine isotope fractionation factor of TCE during an abiotic anaerobic dechlorination process was determined using quadrupole GC/MS, without offline sample preparation.     

Computation of equilibrium oxidation and reduction potentials for reversible and dissociative electron-transfer reactions in solution

Equilibrium free-energy cycles relating oxidation and reduction potentials in solution to ionization potentials and electron affinities in the gas phase are constructed and the utilities of various levels of theory for computing particular free-energy changes within these cycles are discussed within the context of several examples. Emphasis is placed on the use of quantum-mechanical continuum solvation models to compute free energies of solvation. Key systems discussed include quinones, substituted anilines, substituted phenols, and reductive dechlorination reactions.Dedicated to Prof. Jean-Louis Rivail, whose pioneering efforts in developing and exploiting continuum solvent models were critical in making quantum chemistry more applicable to solution phenomenaProceedings of the 11th International Congress of Quantum Chemistry satellite meeting in honor of Jean-Louis Rivail     

Isolation and Characterization of Bacteria that Degrade Poly (Lactic Acid-Glycerol Ester)-Type Time-Release Electron Donors for Accelerated Biological Reductive Dechlorination

Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC^TM) is an important electron donor that has recently become available and is now becoming widely applied to the accelerated biological reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes such as tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE). HRC is a benign poly(lactic acid-glycerol ester) specially formulated for the slow time-release of lactic acid. Lactic acid is then metabolized to hydrogen, which can be used in the reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes. To establish an advance diagnosis of the HRC addition effect for the bioremediation of polluted sites, 17 strains of HRC-degrading bacteria were isolated by liquid- and plate-culture methods. All these strains could grow on a basal medium containing purified HRC as the sole carbon source. The sequence analysis of the 16S rDNAs of 6 of the 17 strains shows that they all belong to the family β-Proteobacteria, which includes Burkholderia cepacia, Burkholderia vietnamiensis, Ralstonia sp., and Variovorax paradoxus. The time course of HRC degradaton by strains JM-11, JM-12 and JM-13 showed that the HRC degradation rates after 9 days of cultivation were 81.1%, 82.8% and 80.4%, respectively. Preliminary assay of the activities of the HRC-degrading enzyme indicated that HRC degradation may be specifically performed by specific lipases produced by HRC-degrading microorganisms.     

Free energies for degradation reactions of 1,2,3-trichloropropane from ab initio electronic structure theory

Electronic structure methods were used to calculate the gas and aqueous phase reaction energies for reductive dechlorination (i.e., hydrogenolysis), reductive β-elimination, dehydrochlorination, and nucleophilic substitution by OH? of 1,2,3-trichloropropane. The thermochemical properties ΔH(f)°(298.15 K), S°(298.15 K, 1 bar), and ΔG(S)(298.15 K, 1 bar) were calculated by using ab initio electronic structure calculations, isodesmic reactions schemes, gas-phase entropy estimates, and continuum solvation models for 1,2,3-trichloropropane and several likely degradation products: CH3?CHCl?CH2Cl, CH2Cl?CH2?CH2Cl, C?H2?CHCl?CH2Cl, CH2Cl?C?H?CH2Cl, CH2═CCl?CH2Cl, cis-CHCl═CH?CH2Cl, trans-CHCl═CH?CH2Cl, CH2═CH?CH2Cl, CH2Cl?CHCl?CH2OH, CH2Cl?CHOH?CH2Cl, CH2═CCl?CH2OH, CH2═COH?CH2Cl, cis-CHOH═CH?CH2Cl, trans-CHOH═CH?CH2Cl, CH(═O)?CH2?CH2Cl, and CH3?C(═O)?CH2Cl. On the basis of these thermochemical estimates, together with a Fe(II)/Fe(III) chemical equilibrium model for natural reducing environments, all of the reactions studied were predicted to be very favorable in the standard state and under a wide range of pH conditions. The most favorable reaction was reductive β-elimination (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?32 kcal/mol), followed closely by reductive dechlorination (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?27 kcal/mol), dehydrochlorination (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?27 kcal/mol), and nucleophilic substitution by OH? (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ ?25 kcal/mol). For both reduction reactions studied, it was found that the first electron-transfer step, yielding the intermediate C?H2?CHCl?CH2Cl and the CH2Cl?C?H?CH2Cl species, was not favorable in the standard state (ΔG(rxn)° ≈ +15 kcal/mol) and was predicted to occur only at relatively high pH values. This result suggests that reduction by natural attenuation is unlikely.     

Reductive dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol using nanoscale Fe~0: influencing factors and possible mechanism

Nanoscale Fe0 was synthesized through a reductive method in this paper. The experiments were per-formed to investigate the reduction of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) by nanoscale Fe0 under different conditions. The pathways for the reduction of 2,4-DCP by nanoscale Fe0 were discussed. Batch studies demonstrated that the mechanism includes adsorption, dechlorination and cleavage of the benzene ring. Dechlorination, which occurs after 2,4-DCP molecule is adsorbed on the interface of Fe particle, is an interfacial reaction. One or two chlorine atom can be removed from 2,4-DCP to form 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol or phenol. As the concentration of 2,4-DCP increased, the relative dechlorination ratio decreased. However, the reduced quantities of 2,4-DCP increased. Temperature can influence dechlo-rination rate and pathway. Dechlorination is prior to cleavage of the benzene ring at a higher tempera-ture, but at a lower temperature, adsorption may be the main pathway, and cleavage of the benzene ring may be prior to dechlorination.     

Reductive dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol using nanoscale Fe<Superscript>0</Superscript>: influencing factors and possible mechanism

Nanoscale Fe⁰ was synthesized through a reductive method in this paper. The experiments were performed to investigate the reduction of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) by nanoscale Fe⁰ under different conditions. The pathways for the reduction of 2,4-DCP by nanoscale Fe⁰ were discussed. Batch studies demonstrated that the mechanism includes adsorption, dechlorination and cleavage of the benzene ring. Dechlorination, which occurs after 2,4-DCP molecule is adsorbed on the interface of Fe particle, is an interfacial reaction. One or two chlorine atom can be removed from 2,4-DCP to form 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol or phenol. As the concentration of 2,4-DCP increased, the relative dechlorination ratio decreased. However, the reduced quantities of 2,4-DCP increased. Temperature can influence dechlorination rate and pathway. Dechlorination is prior to cleavage of the benzene ring at a higher temperature, but at a lower temperature, adsorption may be the main pathway, and cleavage of the benzene ring may be prior to dechlorination. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 50325824, 50678089) and the Excellent Young Teacher Program of MOE.     

Electrochemical reductive dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride on nanostructured Pd thin films

The nanostructured Pd thin films prepared via cyclic voltammetric deposition method are proved to be a promising electrocatalyst for electrochemical reductive dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride (CT). The use of as-prepared Pd thin films as the working electrode material provides a possibility to separately study the role of various forms of hydrogen in the dechlorination reactions. Electrochemical characterization and gas chromatography analysis clearly indicate for the first time that the adsorbed hydrogen has excellent ability to remove CT from acidic solutions through the surface reaction with the chemisorbed CT molecules, which is of fundamental importance to have a better understanding of the reaction mechanism of electrochemical dechlorination.     

An easy and short preparation of pentachloroacetone by selective dechlorination of hexachloroacetone under Appel conditions

We report a very convenient laboratory preparation of pentachloroacetone (PCA) by selective dechlorination of hexachloroacetone (HCA) via reaction with triphenylphosphine in the presence of methanol or aromatic alcohols.     

Enhancement of the catalytic hydrodechlorination of tetrachloroethylene in methanol at mild conditions by water addition

The dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) over carbon-supported palladium catalyst (Pd/C) in methanol (MeOH) at mild conditions was enhanced through the addition of water to the reaction mixture. The dechlorination of PCE was accelerated by increasing the amount of water in the mixture from 0% to 50%, and beyond which the reaction slowed down, however. The presence of water in the mixture enhanced the adsorption of PCE onto the Pd/C but compromised the solubility of H₂ gas in the mixture. It was also noted that the selectivity of the HDC reaction was improved with the increase in the amount of water in the mixture as the formation of trichloroethylene (TCE) was completely eliminated when the HDC was carried out in mixtures with 50% water or more. Other chlorinated intermediates were not detected in all the reactions.     

Aqueous reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethylenes with tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin cobalt

The catalytic dechlorination of chlorinated ethylenes by 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin cobalt ((TCPP)Co), a cobalt complex structurally similar to vitamin B12, was studied. It was found to have superior aqueous-phase dechlorination activity on chlorinated ethylenes (CEs) relative to vitamin B12. Bimolecular rate constants for the degradation of CEs by (TCPP)Co of 250, 24, 0.24, and 1.5 M(-1) s(-1) were found for perchloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-dichloroethylene (cDCE), and trans-dichloroethylene (tDCE), respectively. Through kinetic analysis, the rate laws for PCE and TCE were determined to be first order in substrate and catalyst, and PCE degradation was shown to be sensitive to the concentration of the titanium citrate bulk reductant and pH. The importance of the Co(I) oxidation state on dehalogenation was studied with UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy, a variety of reducing agents, and cyclic voltammetry. Evidence of chlorovinyl complexes as potential catalytic cycle intermediates was obtained through the preparation of (TPP)Co(trans-C2H2Cl) and the observation of (TPP)Co(C2HCl2) and (TCPP)Co(C2HCl2) by mass spectrometry. The X-ray crystal structure of (TPP)Co(trans-C2H2Cl) is reported.     

Formation of C=C and Si-Cl adstructures by insertion reactions of cis-dichloroethylene and perchloroethylene on Si(100)2 x 1

The room-temperature adsorption and thermal evolution of cis-dichloroethylene (DCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) on Si(100)2 x 1 have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) mass spectrometry. Unlike ethylene that is found to adsorb on Si(100)2 x 1 through a [2+2] cycloaddition reaction, cis-DCE and PCE appear to dechlorinate upon adsorption on the 2 x 1 surface through an insertion reaction preserving the C=C bond. Our C 1s XPS spectra are consistent with the existence of mono-sigma-bonded and di-sigma bonded dechlorinated adstructures for both cis-DCE and PCE. The presence of the XPS C 1s feature at 283.9 eV, characteristic of the (=C<(Si)(Si)) component, supports the formation of a unique tetra-sigma-bonded C(2) dimer (i.e., by full dechlorination) for PCE, which is found to be stable to 800 K. In marked contrast to PCE for which no organic desorption fragments are observed, m/z 26 TPD features at 590 and 750 K have been observed for cis-DCE. These features could be attributed to the formation of acetylene resulting from Cl beta-elimination of 2-chlorovinyl adspecies and to direct desorption of vinylene, respectively. Further annealing the cis-DCE and PCE samples to above 800 K produces SiC and/or carbon clusters. The TPD data also show HCl evolution over 810-850 K for both cis-DCE and PCE, the latter of which also exhibits an additional SiCl(2) evolution above 850 K. The present work illustrates that the insertion mechanism could be quite common in the surface chemistry of chlorinated ethylenes on the 2 x 1 surface.     

Mechanism and influence factors of 2,4-D dechlorination by sodium citrate-activated bimetallic palladium-zero valent iron nanoparticles

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) has high removal efficiency and strong reductive ability to organic contaminants, but this reactivity soon ceases and is attributed to rapid passivation of the nZVI surface due to the formation of iron oxides. In the present study, bimetallic palladium-zero valent iron nanoparticles were activated with sodium citrate (SC-nPd/Fe) to enhance 2,4-D dechlorination from aqueous solutions. FTIR and XRD analyses showed that there was no passivation layer on the surface of nZVI after the addition of SC, and XPS analysis confirmed the nZVI after the reaction still maintained high reactivity and surface Pd ratio. The existence of SC facilitated the transfer of electrons from Fe⁰ to contaminants, thus accelerating the reductive dechlorination of 2,4-D. The dechlorination efficiency of 2,4-D on nPd/Fe was only 56.4% in 210 min, while complete dechlorination could be achieved on SC-nPd/Fe under the same conditions, and simultaneously 97.1% of phenoxyacetic acid (PA) was generated. Moreover, the effect of reaction conditions on the dechlorination such as Pd ratio, SC dosage, initial pH and temperature was also investigated, and it was well described by pseudo-first-order kinetic model. In particular, The chelating abilities of SC is similar to EDTA, but it is an environmentally-friendly chelating agent. Findings from the present study suggested that the SC could be a promising substitute for application in the remediation of 2,4-D contained water.     

The roughened silver–palladium cathode for electrocatalytic reductive dechlorination of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

The roughened silver–palladium (Pd/Ag(r)) electrode was fabricated by a convenient metallic replacement reaction, and its electrocatalytic property towards reductive dechlorination of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in basic aqueous solution have been evaluated. Experimental evidence is presented that Pd/Ag(r) exhibited powerful electrocatalytic activity for dechlorination of 2,4-D. In addition, a new dechlorination mechanism of 2,4-D was proposed, in which the formation of adsorbed 2,4-D on Ag is a key step.     

Reaction orders of radiation-induced dechlorinations of some aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons in aqueous solutions

Previously obtained data regarding radiation-induced dechlorination of some aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons tetrachloroethene (PCE), trichloroethene (TCE), chloroform (CHCl₃) and tetrachloromethane (CCl₄) in aqueous solutions were used for determination of formal reaction order of dechlorination. The influence of various factors on this process was investigated. It was found that the formal reaction order changes in the course of reaction and may depend on the initial concentration of chlorinated hydrocarbons.     

Dechlorination of chloroethylenes by cob(I)alamin and cobalamin model complexes

Cobalt-mediated dehalogenation reactions, specifically those that employ cobalamin, have attracted particular attention because these complexes rapidly degrade tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), which are common groundwater contaminants. Although questions remain about the relative importance of several pathways, both radicals and organometallic intermediates, specifically chlorovinyl complexes, play an important role in these processes. This Perspective highlights recent studies focused on elucidating the mechanism of chloroethylene degradation, including experimental studies on PCE and TCE dechlorination, computational studies, preparation of model complexes, and the study of model catalytic systems.     

Pathway dependence of the efficiency of calculating free energy and entropy of solute–solute association in water

In this study we investigate two alternative pathways to compute the free energy and the entropy of small molecule association (ΔF_assoc and ΔS_assoc) in water. The first route (direct pathway) uses thermodynamic integration as function of the distance R between the solutes. The mean force and the mean covariance of the force with the energy in solution are calculated from molecular dynamics simulation followed by integration of these quantities with respect to the reaction coordinate R. The alternative approach examined (solvation pathway) would first remove the solutes from the solution using thermodynamic integration as function of a solvation coupling parameter λ, change the solute–solute distance in vacuo and then solvate back the solute pair at the new separation distance. The system studied was a pair of CH₄ molecules in water. We investigate the influence of the CH₄–water interaction strength on the obtained ΔF_assoc and ΔS_assoc values by changing van der Waals and Coulomb interaction and evaluated the accuracy and efficiency for the two pathways. We find that the direct route seems more suitable for the calculation of free energies of hydrophobic solutes while the solvation pathway performs better when calculating entropy changes for solutes that have a stronger interaction with the solvent.