Re-engineering an artificial sweetener: transforming sucralose residuals in water via advanced oxidation

Sucralose is an artificial sweetener persistently present in wastewater treatment plant effluents and aquatic environments impacted by human activity. It has a potential to accumulate in the water cycle due to its resistance to common water and wastewater treatment processes. This study examined UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation and found that hydroxyl substitution of the chlorine atoms on the sucralose molecule can form a carbohydrate consisting of fructose and sugar alcohol, very similar to environmentally benign sucrose. The second-order reaction rate constant for loss of parent molecule via reaction with hydroxyl radical was determined to be (1.56 ± 0.03)·10(9) M(-1)s(-1). The degradation pathway involves substitution of a single chlorine by a hydroxyl group, with cyclic moiety being a preferential site for initial dechlorination. Further reaction leads to full dechlorination of the molecule, presumably via hydroxyl group substitution as well. No direct photolysis by UV wavelengths above 200 nm was observed. Because of its photostability when exposed to UV wavelengths ≥200 nm, known stability with ozone, limits of quantification by mass spectrometry close to or below environmental concentrations (<5 μg/L) without preconcentration, and otherwise stable nature, sucralose can be used as an in situ hydroxyl radical probe for UV-based and ozone-based AOP processes. As a compound safe for human consumption, sucralose makes a suitable full scale hydroxyl radical probe fit even for drinking water treatment plant applications. Its main drawback as a probe is lack of UV detection and as a result a need for mass spectrometry analysis.