The pH-dependence of organofluorine binding domain preference in dissolved humic acid

In this study we explore the relationship between solution pH and the distribution of the binding interactions at different domains of a dissolved humic acid (HA) for three xenobiotics: pentafluoroaniline (PFA), pentafluorophenol (PFP), and hexafluorobenzene (HFB). The components of HA where xenobiotic interactions occur are identified using the 1H{19F} Reverse Heteronuclear Saturation Transfer Difference (RHSTD) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiment. At low pH, PFA and PFP interact preferentially with aromatic components of HA. Increasing pH reduces this preference. Conversely, HFB interacts with all components of HA equally, across the entire pH range. The possible roles of both aromatic-specific interactions and conformational changes of HA behind these observations are explored. It is shown that T-oriented π-π interactions at π-electron accepting HA structures are slightly stronger for PFA and PFP than for HFB. Using DOSY NMR it is shown that the pH-dependence of the interactions is correlated with changes in the conformation of the carbohydrate components of HA rather than with the aromatic components. It is argued that the observed preference for aromatic HA is caused by restricted access to the non-aromatic components of HA at low pH. These HA components form tightly bound hydrophobic domains due to strong inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonds. At high pH, these structures open up, making them more available for interactions with polar compounds.

► The interactions between organofluorine compounds and humic acid are probed. ► NMR is used to identify the components of humic acid where interactions occur. ► Polar aromatic compounds exhibit a pH-dependence in their preferred binding domains. ► At low pH, interactions at aromatic sites are preferred. ► At high pH, interactions are more evenly distributed.