Novel Heterogeneous Fenton’s-Like Catalysis for Degradation of Colchicine Coupled with Extraction of Its Biologically Active Metabolite

Abstract

Nowadays, drug pollution; a form of water pollution caused by some pharmaceuticals and their metabolites resulting from consumers, industry and hospitals was reported. Colchicine (CLN) is considered one of the pharmaceutical wastewater contaminants which are not eliminated completely in municipal sewage treatment plants and are discharged into receiving water. Due to the higher toxicity of CLN, a novel heterogeneous Fenton's-like catalysis was established for complete degradation of CLN. So, a highly sensitive and specific liquid chromatographic method with quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/Q-MS) was developed and validated for estimation of CLN in its pure form and in the presence of its degradation product. Herein, GraceSmart RP C18 column was utilized for separation of the cited drug (Retention time tR= 5.578 min) using methanol: water (55: 45, v/v) at 1.0 mL/min. Detection was performed by Agilent 6120 Quadrupole MS detector in a positive ionization mode. Thereafter and for the first time, degradation of CLN by heterogeneous Fenton's-like catalysis using modified polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as a catalyst with H2O2 in aqueous acidic medium was performed. This process was firstly optimized by HPLC/UV detection at 248 nm using the aforementioned chromatographic conditions. As a result, CLN degraded completely within 30 min. The only observed degradation product was the biologically active, potent and less toxic antitumor metabolite of CLN (3-demethyl CLN) which was collected, extracted, and analyzed by Fourier Transfer-Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and 13Carbon-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (13C-NMR). Finally, this method is eco-friendly and complies with the requirements of the green chemistry. It is suitable for complete removal of CLN and/or its metabolite contaminants from wastewater samples and estimation of the target drug without any interference from its degradation products. However, further study is required to expand the method applicability to the pharmaceutical wastewater treatment as well the production of 3-demethyl CLN on a large scale.

Facile Fabrication of Bi24O31Br10 Nanosheets with Phosphorus Sulfide Quantum Dots for Highly Photocatalytic Treating Organic Dyes

“…With the rapid development of modern industry, the amount of organic dyes discharged into natural water is significantly increasing, which has a great impact on environment and human health. To date, several techniques, such as adsorption, [1] ozonation, [2] fenton‐like catalysis, [3] and photocatalysis [4] have been explored for the removal of organic pollutants from water. Compared to other technologies, photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants by semiconductor materials has been proven to be a greener and more efficient method [5–7] .…”

Dye‐Sensitization‐Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of BiOCl/Sulfur Quantum Dot Heterojunction under Visible‐Light Irradiation

“…With the rapid development of modern industry, the amount of organic dyes or persistent organic pollutants (POPs) discharged into natural water is significantly increasing, which imposes negative effects on environment and human health. To date, several techniques, such as adsorption, [1] ozonation, [2] and Fenton‐like catalysis, [3] have been explored for the removal of organic pollutants from water in recent years. Semiconductor‐based photocatalysis began in the 1970s and has been widely applied in water splitting, CO 2 reduction, N 2 fixation and organic syntheses etc [4–9] .…”