Rapid screening of phytoremediation effluents by off-line tetramethylammonium hydroxide assisted thermochemolysis

Tetramethylammonium hydroxide-assisted thermochemolysis performed in an off-line mode proved a useful tool in determining organic compounds in the effluent from laboratory-scale phytoremediation systems. Studies were performed with artificial wastewaters contaminated with xylenols and densely rooted Juncus effuses plants. Analytes in these molecular-level based studies included xylenol substrates, an array of stable intermediates such as low molecular weight carboxylic acids and oxidative coupling products (tetramethyl biphenyldiols, tetramethyl diphenylether monools), diagnostic fatty acid biomarkers, as well as lignin-, carbohydrate-, and protein-based phenols and carboxylic acids. Lignin-based breakdown products belonged to p-hydroxyphenyl- and guaiacyl-units, with lower abundance of syringyl units and the dominance of acids over phenols. Monomeric lignin-, protein- and carbohydrate-based breakdown products could not be detected in the non-treated lyophilized effluent. The formation of diketopiperazines pointed to soluble peptides and proteins. The procedure described herein can easily be applied in every modern laboratory to characterize underlying processes in phytoremediation.