Photodegradation of para-arsanilic acid mediated by photolysis of iron(III) oxalate complexes

Organic arsenicals are important environment pollutants due to wide use in livestock and toxicity of degradation products. In this work we report about the efficient photodegradation of the p-arsanilic acid (p-ASA) and its decomposition products in the Fe(III)-oxalate assisted approach under nature-relevant conditions. At neutral pH under near-visible UV irradiation the Fe(III) oxalate complexes generate the primary oxidizing intermediate, OH radical (the quantum yield of ϕ^OH ∼ 0.06), which rapidly reacts with p-ASA with high rate constant, (8.6 ± 0.5) × 10⁹ M^-1s^-1. Subsequent radical reactions result in the complete photooxidation of both p-ASA and basic aromatic photoproducts with the predominant formation of inorganic arsenic species, mainly As(V), under optimal conditions. Comparing with the direct UV photolysis, the presented Fe(III)-oxalate mediated degradation of p-ASA has several advantages: higher efficiency at low p-ASA concentration and complete degradation of organic arsenic by-products without use of short-wavelength UV radiation. The obtained results illustrate that the Fe(III)-oxalate complexes are promising natural photosensitizers for the removal of arsenic pollutants from contaminated waters.