title: Degradation of mono-fluorophenols by an acclimated activated sludge.
abstract: Acclimated activated sludge was examined for its ability to degrade mono-fluorophenols as the sole carbon source in aerobic batch cultures. The acclimated activated sludge degraded fluorophenol efficiently. It degraded 100 mg/l 3-fluoropheno and 4-fluorophenol in 16 h with, respectively, 99.85% and 99.91% fluoride anion release and it degraded 50 mg/l 2-fluorophenol in 15 h with 99.26% fluoride anion release. The aerobic biodegradability of the mono-fluorophenols decreased in the order: 4-fluorophenol > 3-fluorophenol > 2-fluorophenol, resulting mainly from a different octanol/water partition coefficient and different steric parameter of the fluorophenols. The mechanism study revealed that the initial step in the aerobic biodegradation of mono-fluorophenols by the activated sludge was their transformation to fluorocatechol. Following transformation of the fluorophenol to fluorocatechol, ring cleavage by catechol 1, 2-dioxygenases proceeded via an ortho-cleavage pathway, then defluorination occurred.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road 1239, Shanghai 200092, China. myrazh@mail.tongji.edu.cn
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chaojie
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hui
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002396:Catechols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005464:Fluorobenzenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006900:Hydroxylation; D007700:Kinetics; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D002396:Catechols; D005464:Fluorobenzenes; D010636:Phenols; D012722:Sewage