Degradation Mechanisms of 4,7-Dihydroxycoumarin Derivatives in Advanced Oxidation Processes: Experimental and Kinetic DFT Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 20; no. 3; p. 2046
• Main Authors: Milanović, Žiko, Dimić, Dušan, Klein, Erik, Biela, Monika, Lukeš, Vladimír, Žižić, Milan, Avdović, Edina, Bešlo, Drago, Vojinović, Radiša, Dimitrić Marković, Jasmina, Marković, Zoran
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22-01-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Aminophenol; Anticoagulants; Aquatic Organisms; Biomolecules; Chronic toxicity; Commercialization; Degradation; Density functional theory; Electron paramagnetic resonance; Electron spin resonance; Hydroxyl Radical; Inactivation; Investigations; Kinetics; Nitrogen oxides; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction; Quantum mechanics; Quantum physics; Radicals; Spectroscopy; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; hydroxyl radical; radical scavenging; DFT; 4,7-dihydroxycoumarin; EPR; QM−ORSA; AOPs
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20032046

Coumarins represent a broad class of compounds with pronounced pharmacological properties and therapeutic potential. The pursuit of the commercialization of these compounds requires the establishment of controlled and highly efficient degradation processes, such as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Application of this methodology necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the degradation mechanisms of these compounds. For this reason, possible reaction routes between HO
and recently synthesized aminophenol 4,7-dihydroxycoumarin derivatives, as model systems, were examined using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and a quantum mechanical approach (a QM-ORSA methodology) based on density functional theory (DFT). The EPR results indicated that all compounds had significantly reduced amounts of HO
radicals present in the reaction system under physiological conditions. The kinetic DFT study showed that all investigated compounds reacted with HO
via HAT/PCET and SPLET mechanisms. The estimated overall rate constants (
) correlated with the EPR results satisfactorily. Unlike HO
radicals, the newly formed radicals did not show (or showed negligible) activity towards biomolecule models representing biological targets. Inactivation of the formed radical species through the synergistic action of O
/NO
or the subsequent reaction with HO
was thermodynamically favored. The ecotoxicity assessment of the starting compounds and oxidation products, formed in multistage reactions with O
/NO
and HO
, indicated that the formed products showed lower acute and chronic toxicity effects on aquatic organisms than the starting compounds, which is a prerequisite for the application of AOPs procedures in the degradation of compounds.