Controlling the reactivity of chlorinated ethylenes with flavin mononucleotide hydroquinone

Reduction rate constants of the chlorinated ethylenes cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) reacted with flavin mononucleotide hydroquinone (FMNH2) under anoxic conditions were investigated. FMNH2 was produced in methanol solvent by the photoreduction of FMN. In aqueous solution, FMN was not fully reduced to FMNH2 but instead yielded the semiquinone radical FMNH*. However, when FMN was anchored to nanocrystalline TiO2, band gap irradiation resulted in electron transfer from the TiO2 conduction band to FMN, thus yielding FMNH2. The FMNH2 generated in aqueous solution on the TiO2 surface was a stronger reductant toward chlorinated ethylenes, relative to FMNH2 in solution. Furthermore, by combining the reactivity of the TiO2 conduction band electrons [TiO2(e-(CB)] with FMNH2, reduction rate constants for the chlorinated ethylenes increased by 2 orders of magnitude relative to FMNH2 alone. The results show how biological molecules such as FMNH2 could have significant effects toward the remediation of organic pollutants.