LC/MS/MS structure elucidation of reaction intermediates formed during the TiO2 photocatalysis of microcystin-LR

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), a cyanotoxin and emerging drinking water contaminant, was treated with TiO2 photocatalysts immobilized on stainless steel plates as an alternative to nanoparticles in slurry. The reaction intermediates of MC-LR were identified with mass spectrometry (MS) at pH of Milli-Q water (pHsq=5.7). Eleven new [M+H]+ were observed in the liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) chromatogram with some of them giving multiple peaks. Most of these reaction intermediates have not been reported from previous studies employing TiO2 nanoparticles at acidic conditions (pH=4.0). Investigating the effects of pH (for 3.0