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Updated: Sep 27, 2026

A Toolkit to Enable Hydrocarbon Conversion in Aqueous Environments
Published on: October 2, 2012
A central fission pathway in alkylphenol ethoxylate biodegradation
Magdalena Franska1, Rafal Franski, Andrzej Szymanski
1Institute of Chemistry, Poznan University of Technology, ul. Piotrowo 3, PL-60-965 Poznan, Poland.
Abstract:
A representative alkylphenol Triton X-100 (having 9.5 oxyethylene subunits) was treated over 40 days under the conditions of the continuous flow activated sludge simulation test in a plant with aeration and denitrification chambers. Treated sewage was separated by sequential extraction with ethyl acetate and chloroform. The extracts were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). Single ion chromatograms of the chloroform extracts showed the presence of neutral, mono- and di-carboxylated poly(ethylene glycols). This is evidence of the central fission of alkylphenol ethoxylates (APE). Simultaneously, the APE having omega-carboxylated oxyethylene chains were identified. This is the evidence that apart from central fission, the omega-oxidation oxyethylene chain pathway also occurs.
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