Rapid oxidation of histamine H2-receptor antagonists by peroxymonosulfate during water treatment: Kinetics, products, and toxicity evaluation

Abstract Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) is an appealing oxidant for organic contaminant destruction relying on radical generation after activation. Herein, we report PMS-promoted rapid degradation of histamine H2-receptor antagonists (HRAs) through non-radical process for the first time. Five commonly used HRAs, i.e., ranitidine (RNTD), cimetidine (CMTD), famotidine (FMTD), nizatidine (NZTD) and roxatidine (RXTD), were examined their reactivity towards PMS. Results show that HRAs (except RXTD) exhibit high reactivity towards PMS, with apparent second-order rate constants from 403 to 872 M−1s−1 at pH 7.0. Radical scavenging experiments excluded the contribution of radicals to PMS-promoted degradation of HRAs, and this non-radical process was unaffected by the real water matrices. Structure-activity assessment and theoretical calculation indicated that the thioether sulfur in HRAs (except RXTD) was the main reactive site for PMS oxidation. Transformation product analysis further elucidated oxidation of the thioether sulfur to sulfoxide product through an oxygen atom transfer process. Moreover, the thioether sulfur on the straight chain was more susceptible to oxygen transfer with PMS than that on the thiazole ring of HRAs. Toxicity evaluation indicated the ecotoxicity of HRAs could be remarkably reduced after PMS oxidation. Hence, this work provides a promising strategy to rapidly remove HRAs and significantly reduce their toxicity in water treatment.