Photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin and its intermediate degradation products using nitrogen‐doped activated carbon–CuS nanocomposite assisted by visible irradiation

We have synthesized a nitrogen‐doped activated carbon (NAC) derived from oak using KOH and N₂ thermal treatment at 400 °C as well as CuS nanoparticles. The NAC was decorated with the synthesized CuS to apply as a photocatalyst for degradation of norfloxacin (NOR). Before its application for photodegradation, the adsorbent/photocatalyst structural properties were investigated using X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The photocatalytic degradation of NOR was successfully done under visible light using NAC–CuS. The results revealed that the investigated fluoroquinolone degraded very efficiently and pseudo‐first‐order kinetics was adopted for the photodegradation process. In addition, isothermal studies showed that the adsorption process in darkness followed the Langmuir model. The degradation characteristics of the NAC–CuS photocatalyst were studied for 120 min and 15 h under visible light for degradation of NOR, exhibiting a good efficiency for NOR removal. During 120 min of degradation, some intermediate degradation products that can be considered as secondary pollutants were produced. Then, to degrade these pollutants the radiation time was increased up to 15 h. The results displayed a perfect degradation of NOR and its secondary pollutants. The effective variables including pH, degradation time and photocatalyst dosage were optimized and studied in a multivariate method using Design Expert 7. Determination of photodegradation products was carried out using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results are of significance for estimating the environmental fate of NOR in aqueous media.     

Chromatographic determination of morpholine and products of its microbiological degradation

A combination of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was shown to be efficient in determining the intermediate products of the utilization of thiomorpholine with ligninolytic basidiomycete fungus Bjerkandera adusta VKM F-3477. The chromatographic mobility of the products of microbiological degradation of thiomorpholine was studied on Sorbfil PTSKh-P-V plates in the systems of chloroform-methanol-25% aqueous ammonia (80: 20: 2) for determining cyclic amines and isopropanol-25% aqueous ammonia (70: 30) for determining thio acids. The optimum conditions were selected for the separation of thiomorpholine and the formed metabolites by ion-exchange chromatography and reversed-phase chromatography.     

Determination of amitraz and its degradation products and monitoring degradation process in quince and cucumber

Amitraz is a non-systemic acaracide and insecticide. Current maximum residue limits for amitraz are stated as ‘Amitraz including the metabolites containing the 2,4-dimethylaniline moiety’. Therefore, determination of amitraz and its all degradation products are important. In this study, we develop a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method for determination of amitraz and its degradation products 2,4 dimethylaniline (DMA), 2,4 dimethylformamidine (DMF) and N-(2,4-dimethyl phenyl)-N’-methylformamidine (DMPF) in cucumber and quince. The mechanism of the degradation process was monitored at different temperatures. Amitraz and its degradation products were extracted using the QuEChERS method. To determine amitraz and its degradation products, we used GC/MS. Quantification was carried out by using selected ion monitoring, and total ion chromatogram was used to monitor additional degradation products. The method was validated by studying linearity, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ), recovery and precision. The mechanism of the degradation process was monitored at different temperatures. Degradation of amitraz mainly to three degradation products, namely DMA, DMF and DMPF, increased with temperature. Besides these three main degradation products, two other new degradation products were detected.     

Determination of estradiol and its degradation products by liquid chromatography

A novel HPLC method for simultaneous determination of estradiol and its seven degradation products in topical gel was developed. Zorbax SB-CN (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) analytical column and mobile phase composed of acetonitrile, phosphoric acid 0.085%, and tetrahydrofurane (27:63:10, v/v/v) at flow-rate 1.0 ml min(-1) were used for the chromatographic separation using UV detection at 225 nm. The active substance estradiol was separated from all its known degradation products successfully. Two degradation products estrone and Delta(9(11))-estrone were not separated sufficiently, their peaks were evaluated as a sum of two components. The method was validated according to ICH guideline recommendations and thereafter it was successfully applied for stability tests of topical cream Estrogel HBF in the quality control laboratory. Limits of detection for degradation products ranged from 1.03 x 10(-5) to 1.14 x 10(-4) mg ml(-1), limits of quantitation for degradation products were in the range 3.43 x 10(-5) to 3.81 x 10(-4) mg ml(-1). The developed method is selective, precise, accurate and sensitive enough for determination of estradiol and its known degradation products.     

Photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene

A Pt/TiO2 photocatalyst was used in the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) under the irradiation of the simulated sunlight. The results show that the destruction of TNT is faster and more complete with the photocatalyst. The photocatalytic degradation of TNT follows first order kinet-ics. The transformation of nitryl groups of TNT molecules into nitrite and nitrate ions may be acceler-ated in the presence of the Pt/TiO2 photocatalyst. Compared with that without the catalyst, the concentration of nitrate ions was improved 32.3 times within 2.5 h.     

Catalytic hydrodenitrogenation of carbazole and some of its partially hydrogenated intermediate products

The catalytic hydrodenitrogenation of model heterocyclic nitrogen compounds such as carbazole, tetrahydro-and hexahydrocarbazoles has been studied. The results indicate that the hydrodenitrogenation was complete in the case of tetrahydro- and hexahydrocarbazoles and almost complete in the case of carbazole. Rate constants for the first two compounds were 3 times higher than for carbazole. The mechanistic consequences of these results are discussed.

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Separation and determination of rofecoxib and its degradation products by TLC chromatography

A thin layer chromatography with densitometry method for the determination of rofecoxib and degradation products is described. The chromatographic separation was performed on silica gel TLC plates as a stationary phase and chloroform-acetone-toluene-glacial acetic acid (12: 5: 2: 0.1, v/v/v/v) as a mobile phase. Densitimetric detection was carried out at 256 nm. The method is of high sensitivity and low LOD and LOQ: from 0.35 μg/spot to 1.05 μg/spot. The recovery was satisfactory at 98.62%. In addition, the stability of rofecoxib in solutions was investigated, including an effect of solution pH, temperature and incubation time. The method is rapid, easy and selective, particularly for the analysis of rofecoxib formulations. The article is published in the original.     

Photocatalytic degradation of methyl methacrylate copolymers

The photolytic and photocatalytic degradation of the copolymers poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate) (MMA-BMA), poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate) (MMA-EA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (MMA-MAA) have been carried out in solution in the presence of solution combustion synthesized TiO₂ (CS TiO₂) and commercial Degussa P-25 TiO₂ (DP 25). The degradation rates of the copolymers were compared with the respective homopolymers. The copolymers and the homopolymers degraded randomly along the chain. The degradation rate was determined using continuous distribution kinetics. For all the polymers, CS TiO₂ exhibited superior photo-activity compared to the uncatalysed and DP 25 systems, owing to its high surface hydroxyl content and high specific surface area. The time evolution of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxide stretching vibration in the Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the copolymers indicated that the degradation rate follows the order MMA-MAA > MMA-EA > MMA-BMA. The same order is observed for the rate coefficients of photocatalytic degradation. The photodegradation rate coefficients were compared with the activation energy of pyrolytic degradation. In degradation by pyrolysis, it was observed that MMA-BMA was the least stable followed by MMA-EA and MMA-MAA. The observed contrast in the order of thermal stability compared to the photo-stability of these copolymers was attributed to the two different mechanisms governing the scission of the polymer and the evolution of the products.     

Photocatalytic mineralization of chlorinated organic pollutants in water by polyoxometallates. Determination of intermediates and final degradation products

Homogeneous aqueous solutions of organochlorine pesticides and chlorophenols, namely, lindane, hexachlorobenzene and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4DCP), undergo effective photodegradation upon photolysis with UV and near visible light in the presence of a characteristic polyoxometallate catalyst PW₁₂O₄₀ ³⁻. These substrates remained, practically, intact (lindane, HCB) or underwent minor degradation under similar conditions in absence of catalyst. The main oxidant appears to be OH radicals formed by the reaction of the excited polyoxometallate with H₂O. The system compares with the widely published TiO₂. Chlorohydroquinone (ClHQ), hydroquinone (HQ), chlorobenzoquinone (ClBQ), benzoquinone (BQ), 3,5-dichlorocatechol (3,5DCC) and 4-chlorocatechol (4CC), among others, were identified as the main aromatic intermediates in the photodegradation of 2,4DCP. Acetic acid was detected as ring cleavage product. In all cases the final photodegradation leads to complete mineralization of substrates to CO₂ and HCl.     

Photocatalytic degradation of organophosphate flame retardant TBEP: kinetics and identification of transformation products by orbitrap mass spectrometry

The photocatalytic degradation of tris (2–butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP) flame retardant using visible light response catalysts TiO₂/V₂O₅, (N,F-doped)-TiO₂/V₂O₅, and N-doped-SrTiO₃ has been studied by high-resolution orbitrap mass spectrometry. TBEP degradation followed first-order kinetics with half-life values ranging between 9.8 and 83.5 min. N-doped-SrTiO₃ was the catalyst with better photocatalytic performance while activity for TiO₂/V₂O₅ composites followed the trend: N, F- TiO₂/V₂O₅ > N-TiO₂/V₂O₅> TiO₂/V₂O₅. The identified degradation products (DPs) revealed hydroxylation, further oxidation and dealkylation as major degradation pathways. Based on the identified DPs and scavenging experiments, ^?OH radical-mediated reactions can be considered for the degradation of TBEP using TiO₂ and SrTiO₃-based photocatalytic materials.     

AgBr/Ag_3PO_4光催化降解染料的性能及其降解产物的生态毒性(英文)

通过调节Na_3PO_4溶液中H_3PO_4的含量制得沉淀剂,AgNO_3与此沉淀剂反应制得Ag_3PO_4粉末.当沉淀剂pH=6时,所制得的Ag_3PO_4粉末表现出最高的光催化降解甲基蓝和罗丹明B活性.进一步添加KBr溶液修饰Ag_3PO_4可制得AgBr/Ag_3PO_4粉末.该光催化剂可使阴离子染料(如活性橙和甲基橙)脱色.采用适当的捕获剂考察了参与光催化降解过程的活性物种的抑制活性.光催化反应之后,质谱检测证实染料降解为更小的分子.以Chlorella vulgaris为生物指示剂考察了处理前后染料的生态毒性.     

Electrochemical determination of mesotrione and its degradation products on glassy carbon electrode

A simple, fast and sensitive analytical method was developed for the quantification of herbicide mesotrione (MES) and its degradation products: 4-(methylsulfonyl)-2-nitrobenzoic acid (MNBA) and 2-amino-4-(methylsulfonyl) benzoic acid (AMBA) using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Voltammetric measurements were performed using glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Potential range, pH of the electrolyte and the scan rate were optimised to achieve the lowest detection limits of analytes. The optimal conditions were obtained in a Britton–Robinson (BR) buffer at pH 4.0 for MNBA and at pH 6.0 for MES and AMBA, with the scan rate 0.08 V/s. The potential V for (1) nitro and carbonyl groups of MES, (2) nitro group of MNBA and (3) amino group of AMBA, obtained under optimised conditions, was plotted as a function of a peak current (I). The I(V) dependencies were measured for the following concentration ranges: 0.5–5.0 µM for the nitro group of MES and MNBA, 0.75–5.0 µM and 0.50–8.5 µM for the carbonyl groups of MES, and 0.25–8.5 µM for amino group of AMBA; whereas, the limit of detection was in range 0.07–0.23 µM (20–80 µg/L). The proposed method is the first one that allows the determination of both MES and its degradation products. The practical applicability of these newly developed voltammetric methods was verified by direct determination of MES and its degradation products in model samples of drinking and surface water.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of betamethasone 17-valerate and its degradation products

A high-performance liquid chromatographic assay of betamethasone 17-valerate is described. The procedure may be use for quantitative assay of the degradation products, betamethasone 21-valerate and betamethasone, and the application to the analysis of ointments is described. The method is also suitable for the determination of the kinetics of decomposition from one experimental run, and the determination of rate constants from a four-compartment sequential reaction is described. The procedure is also applicable to other corticosteroids, and hydrocortisone 17-butyrate, hydrocortisone 21-butyrate, and hydrocortisone may similarly be determined without modification to the method.     

水溶液中苯乙酮及其降解产物的紫外光光解

在紫外光作用下,水中苯乙酮(10^-^4mol.dm^-^3,pH=6)能发生直接光降解,生成邻羟基和间羟基苯乙酮等中间产物,并且这些产物又可进一步光解生成二羟基苯乙酮。在相同条件下,它们的相对光降解速率大小为:苯乙酮>间羟基苯乙酮>对羟基苯乙酮>邻羟基苯乙酮。     

Artificial neural networks in analysis of indinavir and its degradation products retention

Artificial neural networks (ANN) are biologically inspired computer programs designed to simulate the way in which the human brain processes the information. In the past few years, coupling of experimental design (ED) and ANN became useful tool in the method optimization. This paper presents the application of ED-ANN in analysis of chromatographic behavior of indinavir and its degradation products. According to preliminary study, full factorial design 2⁴ was chosen to set input variables for network training. Experimental data (inputs) and results for retention factors from experiments (outputs) were used to train the ANN with aim to define correlation among variables. For networks training multi-layer perceptron (MLP) with back propagation (BP) algorithm was used. Network with the lowest root mean square (RMS) had 4-8-3 topology. Predicted data were in good agreement with experimental data (correlation was higher than 0.9713 for training set). Regression statistics confirmed good ability of trained network to predict compounds retention.     

RP-HPLC stability-indicating assay method for talinolol and characterization of its degradation products

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method is developed and validated for the quantitative determination of talinolol and to characterize its degradation products. A very good resolution between peaks is achieved using a C18 column at 40°C. The mobile phase comprises of a mixture of acetonitrile and potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate buffer (pH 4.4) in the ratio of 27:73 (v/v). The method is validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision, robustness, and forced degradation studies, which further proved the stability indicating power. During the forced degradation studies, talinolol is observed to be labile to hydrolytic stress and thermal stress (in the solution form). However, it is stable to the oxidative, photolytic, and thermal stress (in the solid form). The degraded products formed are investigated by electrospray ionization (ESI), time-of-flight mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and infrared spectroscopy. A possible degradation pathway is outlined based on the results. The method is found to be sensitive with a detection limit of 0.125 μg/mL and a quantitation limit of 0.378 μg/mL. The method is also demonstrated to be robust, as it is resistant to small variations of chromatographic variables such as pH, mobile phase composition, flow rate, and column temperature.     

Development and validation of a RP-HPLC method for Roflumilast and its degradation products

Roflumilast is a phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor that is administered orally as a long-term, in the clinical treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Launched in 2010 for the European market, it currently does not have an official monograph. Here, a reproducible gradient RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for the separation and determination of Roflumilast in the presence of its six major degradation products. Separation was performed on a C₁₈ analytical column (250?×?4.6?mm, 5?µm) with a mobile phase-A of ACN and a phase-B of ammonium acetate buffer (5?mM, pH 4.2) containing triethylamine (0.5% v/v). The most effective RP-HPLC gradient program was determined to be 0/80, 35/10, 36/80, 40/80 (time in minutes/% mobile phase-B). The flow rate was 1.0?ml/min and the column temperature was 25°C. The success of separation of the degradation products with different chemical characteristics was obtained by extending the time of the gradient, changing the proportion of the mobile phases and increasing the velocity of the flow. Two detectors were evaluated for the identification of degradation products and Roflumilast: a diode-arrary detector and a charged aerosol detector. The inability of the charged aerosol detector to dectect one of the six degradation products indicated that the method developed with RP-HPLC and the diode-array detector was more suitable for Roflumilast analysis. The method was validated according to specificity, linearity, LOD, LOQ, accuracy, precision and robustness.