title: Anoxic degradation of nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds by activated sludge and their active sites.
abstract: The potential for degradation of five nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds (NHCs), i.e., imidazole, pyridine, indole, quinoline, and carbazole, was investigated under anoxic conditions with acclimated activated sludge. Results showed that NHCs with initial concentration of 50 mg/L could be completely degraded within 60 hr. The degradation of five NHCs was dependent upon the chemical structures with the following sequence: imidazole>pyridine>indole>quinoline>carbazole in terms of their degradation rates. Quantitative structure-biodegradability relationship studies of the five NHCs showed that the anoxic degradation rates were correlated well with highest occupied molecular orbital. Additionally, the active sites of NHCs identified by calculation were confirmed by analysis of intermediates using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: xp12904@126.com.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: han13946003379@163.com.
authors.forename: Hongjun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Baolin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Shengyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Dexin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Anoxic; NHCs; Pseudo first-order equation