Mechanistic consideration of the photochemical transformation of domoic acid (algal toxin) in DOM-Rich brackish water

Abstract

Domoic acid (DA) is a neurotoxin generated by several diatom species in harmful algae blooms (HABs). We report the photo-induced transformation products (TPs) and degradation mechanisms of DA in dissolved organic matter (DOM)-rich freshwater and brackish water. High-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) and the multivariate statistical strategy orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) identified 36 and 23 potential TPs in DOM-rich freshwater and brackish water, respectively. The main reactive sites of DA are the conjugated double bond and proline ring. Isomerization is the predominant transformation pathway induced by excited-state triplet DOM (3DOM∗). The second-order rate constant of the isomerization reaction was measured as (3.8 ± 0.2) × 108 M−1 s−1. The inverse correlation between the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and the rate of photo-induced DA isomerization was revealed. Furthermore, under halide-present conditions, halide radicals are mainly responsible for the differentiation of products by quenching hydroxyl radicals and generating unique organic peroxide products. Our results indicated that halide radicals could be important in the photochemical transformation of organic contaminants in high saline environments.