Nitrosamines photodecomposition

Other environmental properties of interest are those that govern movement of chemicals, for these properties can influence not only the possibility of human exposure but also the lifetime and fate of the chemical. Clearly, if a nitrosamine is formed in, or introduced into, the soil and stays there, it presents little threat to man, and its lifetime will depend on the chemical or microbiological properties of the soil. If it should move to the surface and volatilize into the atmosphere, on the other hand, there will exist the possibility of human exposure via inhalation and also the possibility of vapor-phase photodecomposition. If a nitrosamine were to leach from soil into water, it could perhaps be consumed in drinking water alternatively, exposure of the aqueous solution to sunlight could provide another opportunity for photodecomposition. 

At temperatures low enough to suppress thermal decomposition, a nltrosamlde XIV In polar or non-polar solvents Is photolytlcally decomposed to amldyl and nitric oxide radicals 4,16,17,18), This Is In sharp contrast to the photostahility of nitrosamines in neutral solvents (Including acetic acid) (ii), although the pattern of photodecomposition Is similar to that of nitrosamines In dilute acidic conditions. However, the overall photolysis pattern of nltrosamldes Is complicated by disproportionation of nitric oxide and existence of a radical pair XV (20,21,22). ... 

V-Nitrosamines undergo efficient photodecomposition, especially in acidic (pH < 4) aqueous solution. Polo and Chow (27) have proposed the following mechanism for photodecomposition of NDMA ... 

Hydrogen-atom transfer reactions are also seen in the photodecomposition of N-nitrosamines in acidic methanol (161), and the... 

Several observations show that the quantum yield for photodecomposition of dimethyl-nitrosamine is near unity for excitation within the long-wavelength band ... 

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