Analytical Studies on the Oxidative Degradation of the Reactive Textile Dye Uniblue A

Abstract

Oxidative degradation process of organic materials in wastewater is an area of significant current interest. In the case of commercial textile dyes, little is known about the structures of the actual products that can form once a dye has been submitted to oxidative conditions. Here, a product analysis approach was applied to identify some of the major early degradation products of Uniblue A (UBA) when reacted with peroxydisulfate (PDS). UBA is the vinyl sulfone form and major wastewater constituent of the commercial anthraquinone textile dye C.I. Reactive Blue 19. Using NMR, LC−MS, and Raman, four reaction products could be identified, and possible reaction pathways are discussed.