Carbofuran is a toxic carbamate pesticide, and its use has increased in recent years. While marketing information indicates stability in different chemical media, carbofuran exhibits relative photolability. The aim of this research was to decompose carbofuran and to identify the photoproducts achieved when two different doped titania photocatalysts were employed under UV irradiation. The iron-doped TiO2 materials were obtained (a) via a hydrothermal method and (b) by an ultrasound-assisted sol-gel method. The precursors were TiOSO4⋅xH2O and Fe3(NO3)·9H2O. X-ray studies confirmed that the anatase phase of the iron-doped TiO2 resulted from the two preparation methods. The photocatalytic performance of the prepared materials was monitored by LC/ESI-QTOF-MS, enabling the identification of photoproducts: oxo-carbamates, hydroxylated benzofuranes, a carboxamide, and one amine. By using the iron-doped TiO2 materials, 2,2-dimethyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-3,7-diol was the most abundant photoproduct, and N,2,2-trimethyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-7-amine was the only compound that had not been previously reported in the photolysis and photocatalysis of carbofuran. The product 3-hydroxy carbofuran, a cholinesterase inhibitor, was quantified and was found to be transformed into compounds that lack this inhibitive property.
Keywords: Carbofuran; LC/ESI-QTOF-MS; cholinesterase inhibition; iron-doped TiO2; photocatalysis; product identification.