Direct photolysis of tiapride in water: deep insights into desulfonation reaction
摘要
The use of antipsychotics is constantly increasing worldwide due to their employment in the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, depression and more. These compounds are not efficiently removed by the current wastewater treatment technologies and are consequently recognised as factors of environmental concerns. Unravelling their chemical transformations in the water matrix is therefore of high importance. This study investigates the photodegradation of tiapride (TP), an atypical neuroleptic agent, focusing on its reactivity by direct photolysis. The results unveiled a remarkable inhibitory effect of oxygen on the photodegradation, highlighting how variations in dissolved oxygen levels across systems (wastewater treatment plants and surface waters) may shape TP persistence. The involvement of the triplet excited state of the molecule in the process was demonstrated through fluorescence spectroscopy and laser flash photolysis. The structures of the main transformation products under various oxygenation conditions, identified by LC-HRMS with an ESI source, were proposed together with the transformation pathways of the compound.