CAS: Fluorine Beyond PFAS: Pathways to Sustainable Fluorochemical Design Through Environmental Degradation Studies and Fluorine Mass Balances

在化学系环境化学科学项目的支持下，明尼苏达大学双城分校的William Arnold、William Pomerantz和塞巴斯蒂安贝伦斯将研究大规模生产的化学品的环境存在和降解，特别是含有一个或多个氟原子的药品和农药。虽然多氟烷基和全氟烷基物质（PFAS）类化学品受到了广泛关注，但对进入环境的其他氟化化学品的身份和命运以及是否形成未知的持久性副产品的了解有限。该项目将使多名学生接触到绿色化学设计原理，并提供基础环境，合成和计算化学以及水处理中涉及的生物过程和工程概念的跨学科培训。与政府、公用事业和行业/咨询合作伙伴的伙伴关系将提供一种与那些积极寻求评估和监管氟化污染物的人进行沟通的手段。由社区艺术家主持的受化学污染影响的社区论坛将用于分享关于污染问题潜在解决方案的观点和关注。这项工作的主要推动力是将氟纳入越来越多的有机化学品中，即使是最广泛和环境持久性的氟化行为体（即，PFAS）逐步淘汰。鉴于天然含氟有机分子很少，因此了解将氟纳入有机分子如何影响自然和工程水生环境中的整套潜在降解途径，特别是了解化学和生物驱动过程中形成的持久性含氟产品，至关重要。该项目将使用筛选方法来确定耐转化的氟化官能团。将测量非生物和生物降解过程的反应速率，并确定氟化反应产物。最后，将开发一种使用氟核磁共振光谱的方法来量化环境样品中的氟化合物。最终，这些信息将指导需要氟结合以获得所需效果的分子的开发，但能够在环境条件下分解成无害的产品。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program in the Division of Chemistry, William Arnold, William Pomerantz, and Sebastian Behrens at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities will investigate the environmental presence and degradation of mass-produced chemicals, specifically pharmaceuticals and pesticides that contain one or more fluorine atoms. While the poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) class of chemicals has received much attention, there is limited understanding about the identity and fate of other fluorinated chemicals that reach the environment and whether unknown, persistent byproducts are formed. This project will expose multiple students to green chemical design principles and offer interdisciplinary training in fundamental environmental, synthetic, and computational chemistry as well as the biological processes and engineering concepts involved in water treatment. Partnerships with government, utility, and industry/consulting partners will provide a means to communicate with those actively seeking to assess and regulate fluorinated contaminants. Forums for communities impacted by chemical pollution facilitated by a community artist will be used to share perspectives and concerns regarding potential solutions to pollution issues.A major impetus for this work is the incorporation of fluorine into increasingly more organic chemicals, even as the most widespread and environmentally persistent fluorinated actors (i.e., PFAS) are phased out. Given that there are few natural fluorinated organic molecules, it is critically important to understand how the incorporation of fluorine into organic molecules affects the full suite of potential degradation pathways in natural and engineered aquatic environments and, in particular, what persistent fluorinated products form from both chemically- and biologically-driven processes. The project will use a screening approach to identify fluorinated functional groups resistant to transformation. The reaction rates for abiotic and biological degradation processes will be measured and fluorinated reaction products identified. Lastly, a method using fluorine nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy will be developed to quantify fluorinated compounds in environmental samples. Ultimately, this information will guide the development of molecules that require fluorine incorporation to obtain a desired effect, yet are able to breakdown into innocuous products under environmental conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.