Studies on nitroaromatic compound degradation in modified Fenton reactions by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS-MS)

Degradation products resulting from modified Fenton reactions with the nitroaromatic compounds trinitrotoluene (TNT) and trinitrobenzene (TNB) were identified by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS-MS). Several hydroperoxide adducts were tentatively identified as initial, one-electron reduction products of TNT and tandem mass spectrometry confirmed their structure. A transformation pathway of TNT, resulting from reactions with oxygen radical species generated by the modified Fenton reaction, was proposed.