Nonbiological decomposition

Baker MD, Mayfied Cl. 1980. Microbial and nonbiological decomposition of chlorophenols and phenol in soil. Water Air Soil Pollut 13 411-424. 

Hance, R.J. Decomposition of herbicides in the soil by nonbiological chemical processes, J. Sci. FoodAgric, 18 544-547, 1967. 

Kinetics of the Nonbiological Decomposition and Racemization of Amino Acids in Natural Waters... 

Oxidation. The oxidation of amino acids is probably the principal nonbiological decomposition reaction under aerobic conditions. Except for some preliminary studies, however, there have been few investigations of this reaction. The reaction is likely an oxidative deamination, producing ammonia and the a-keto acid of the corresponding amino acid. The a-keto acid may decarboxylate to give an aldehyde. The over-all reaction sequence can be written as... 

The luminescent decomposition of certain oxalic acid esters (Fig. 9) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and fluorescent sensitizers represents one of the most efficient nonbiological light-producing reactions (Rl, R2). The two most commonly used esters are shown in Fig. 45. As diagnostic agents, oxalate esters... 

The fate of carbaryl on montmorillonite and in seawater was also studied. This insecticide decomposes in seawater at pH > 8, where a-naphthol forms by a nonbiological pathway. The adsorption and decomposition of carbaryl and its degradation product was studied on montmorillon-ite. After extraction with acetone, the residues were chromatographed on silica gel F254 with ether-hexane (4 1). The Revalues were O.SS and 0.73, respectively (72) (Table 4). 

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