Investigating the mechanism of phenol photooxidation by humic substances.

To probe the mechanism of the photosensitized loss of phenols by humic substances (HS), the dependence of the initial rate of 2,4,6-trimethylphenol (TMP) loss (R(TMP)) on dioxygen concentration was examined both for a variety of untreated as well as borohydride-reduced HS and C(18) extracts from the Delaware Bay and Mid-Atlantic Bight. R(TMP) was inversely proportional to dioxygen concentration at [O(2)] > 50 µM, a dependence consistent with reaction with triplet excited states, but not with (1)O(2) or RO(2). Modeling the dependence of R(TMP) on [O(2)] provided rate constants for TMP reaction, O(2) quenching, and lifetimes compatible with a triplet intermediate. Borohydride reduction significantly reduced TMP loss, supporting the role of aromatic ketone triplets in this process. However, for most samples, the incomplete loss of sensitization following borohydride reduction, as well as the inverse dependence of R(TMP) on [O(2)] for these samples, suggests that there remains another class of oxidizing triplet sensitizer, perhaps quinones.

Optical properties of humic substances and CDOM: effects of borohydride reduction.

Treatment of Suwanee River humic (SRHA) and fulvic (SRFA) acids, a commercial lignin (LAC), and a series of solid phase extracts (C18) from the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB extracts) with sodium borohydride (NaBH(4)), a selective reductant of carbonyl-containing compounds including quinones and aromatic ketones, produces a preferential loss of visible absorption (> or = 50% for SRFA) and substantially enhanced, blue-shifted fluorescence emission (2- to 3-fold increase). Comparison of the results with those obtained from a series of model quinones and hydroquinones demonstrates that these spectral changes cannot be assigned directly to the absorption and emission of visible light by quinones/hydroquinones. Instead, these results are consistent with a charge transfer model in which the visible absorption is due primarily to charge transfer transitions arising among hydroxy- (methoxy-) aromatic donors and carbonyl-containing acceptors. Unlike most of the model hydroquinones, the changes in optical properties of the natural samples following NaBH(4) reduction were largely irreversible in the presence of air and following addition of a Cu(2+) catalyst, providing tentative evidence that aromatic ketones (or other similar carbonyl-containing structures) may play a more important role than quinones in the optical properties of these materials.