Advanced oxidation treatment of pentoxifylline in aqueous solutions

The degradation of pentoxifylline (PTX) using H₂O₂, UV, H₂O₂/UV, Fenton and photo-Fenton processes has been examined in aqueous solutions. The influence of oxidation agent and initial PTX concentration, on H₂O₂, H₂O₂/UV, Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions was investigated. The addition of inorganic ions (Cl^–, NO₃^–, SO₄^2– and CO₃^2–) on the degradation efficiency of PTX was tested for H₂O₂/UV, Fenton and photo-Fenton processeses. The results indicate that the photo-Fenton reaction is the most sufficient for PTX removal. The complete pharmaceutics decomposition is achieved after 5 min under optimized concentration of FeSO_4,·7 H₂O₂ and H₂O₂. The degradation of PTX is inhibited in the presence of inorganic matter in H₂O₂/UV and Fenton reaction. In the photo-Fenton process addition of above compounds does not affect the reaction rate. Structures of ten products of photo-Fenton reaction have been proposed.