IRON COMPLEX SYSTEM ZAPS HARMFUL MICROPOLLUTANTS FOR WATER DISINFECTION

摘要

Chlorination has been used for more than a century to disinfect water. But in recent years we have learned much more about its dark side: chlorine also reacts with organic species in water to produce toxic byproducts. Now, Christine McKenzie and colleagues introduce a catalytic system that could help alleviate this problem by working in concert with chlorination to dismantle organic contaminants such as pesticides and prevent the generation of harmful byproducts (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c07669). The team's iron oxidant system comprises a biomimetic diiron(Ⅲ) complex modeled after non-heme enzymes and a ligand known as tpena (N,N,N'-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylene-diamine-N'-acetate).