Interaction between Organic Compounds and Catalyst Steers the Oxidation Pathway and Mechanism in the Iron Oxide-Based Heterogeneous Fenton System

In the past decades, extensive efforts have been devoted to the mechanistic understanding of various heterogeneous Fenton reactions. Nevertheless, controversy still remains on the oxidation mechanism/pathway toward different organic compounds in the classical iron oxide-based Fenton reaction, largely because the role of the interaction between the organic compounds and the catalyst has been scarcely considered. Here, we revisited the classic heterogeneous ferrihydrite (Fhy)/H2O2 system toward different organic compounds on the basis of a series of degradation experiments, alcohol quenching experiments, theoretical modeling, and intermediate analysis. The Fhy/H2O2 system exhibited highly selective oxidation toward the group of compounds that bear carboxyl groups, which tend to complex with the surface ≡Fe(III) sites of the Fhy catalyst. Such interaction results in a nonradical inner sphere electron transfer process, which seizes one electron from the target compound and features negligible inhibition by the radical quencher. In contrast, for the oxidation of organic compounds that could not complex with the catalyst, the traditional HO· process makes the main contribution, which proceeds via hydroxyl addition reaction and could be readily suppressed by the radical quencher. This study implies that the interaction between the organic compounds and the catalyst plays a decisive role in the oxidation pathway and mechanism of the target compounds and provides a holistic understanding on the iron oxide-based heterogeneous Fenton system.