Modeling the photochemical transformation of nitrobenzene under conditions relevant to sunlit surface waters: Reaction pathways and formation of intermediates

Abstract

Nitrobenzene (NB) would undergo photodegradation in sunlit surface waters, mainly by direct photolysis and triplet-sensitized oxidation, with a secondary role of the *OH reaction. Its photochemical half-life time would range from a few days to a couple of months under fair-weather summertime irradiation, depending on water chemistry and depth. NB phototransformation gives phenol and the three nitrophenol isomers, in different yields depending on the considered pathway. The minor *OH role in degradation would make NB unsuitable as *OH probe in irradiated natural water samples, but the selectivity towards *OH could be increased by monitoring the formation of phenol from NB+*OH. The relevant reaction would proceed through ipso-addition of *OH on the carbon atom bearing the nitro-group, forming a pre-reactive complex that would evolve into a transition state (and then into a radical addition intermediate) with very low activation energy barrier.

Keywords: COSMO; DFT calculation; Hydroxyl radical; Nitrobenzene; Photo-oxidative degradation.