Sun light degradation of 4-chloroaniline in waters and its effect on toxicity. A high performance liquid chromatography – Diode array – Tandem mass spectrometry study

This paper studies the degradation reactions that 4-chloroaniline can naturally undergo in waters for the action of sun light. 10.00 mg L−1 4-chloroaniline aqueous solution, without any addition of organic solvent, are undergone to photoirradiation under conditions that simulate sun light. The degradation pathway, followed by HPLC-DAD–MS/MS methods, is complex since the pollutant gives rise to many photoproducts: the predominant species are characterized by m/z values of 217 (P5) and 218 (P6) and are compatible with dimeric structures of 4-chloroaniline. Vibrio fischeri tests indicate that the photoproducts of 4-chloroaniline are characterized by a toxicity level significantly greater than the precursor.