Reductive debromination of nonabrominated diphenyl ethers by sodium borohydride and identification of octabrominated diphenyl ether products.
A method was developed to study reductive transformation of highly brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs). The method development is a part of a broader project where it will be used to determine the susceptibility of environmental pollutants to reductive conditions, in an attempt to create a scheme for determination of chemical's persistence. This paper focuses on identification of octabrominated diphenyl ether transformation products from reductive debromination of the three nonabrominated diphenyl congeners (nonaBDE), BDE-206, -207 and -208. Sodium borohydride was used to explore the reductive debromination of the nonaBDEs. The transformation products were collected at two time-points and identified products were quantified by GC-MS. The reduction of the nonaBDEs lead primarily to debrominated products, mainly octaBDEs. The three nonabrominated DEs gave isomer-related transformation product patterns. BDE-207 and BDE-208 showed a propensity for ortho-debromination in the initial reaction step, while no discrimination between initial debromination positions was seen for BDE-206. All three nonabrominated DEs displayed a preferred initial debromination on the fully brominated DE ring.
Environmental Chemistry Unit, Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden. lisa.granelli@mmk.su.se
Lisa
L
Granelli
Johan
J
Eriksson
Maria
M
Athanasiadou
Åke
Å
Bergman
D001894:Borohydrides / Q000737:chemistry*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D054879:Halogenation; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
D001894:Borohydrides; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; C512044:2,2',3,3',4,4',5,5',6-nonabromodiphenyl ether; C512045:2,2',3,3',4,4',5,6,6'-nonabromodiphenyl ether; C025364:sodium borohydride; C512046:2,2',3,3',4,5,5',6,6'-nonabromodiphenyl ether