Re-evaluation of the conformational structure of sulfadiazine species using NMR and ab initio DFT studies and its implication on sorption and degradation Original Research Article

In the environment, the sorption and the degradation of organic pollutants are of increasing interest. The investigation of the chemical structures provides a basis for the development of a suitable binding model approach and for the mechanistic understanding of the chemical fate processes. The aim of this study was the identification of different species of the antibiotic compound sulfadiazine (SDZ) using 1H and 13C NMR experiments and ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In the neutral, aprotic solvent dimethylsulfoxide-d6 (DMSO-d6), a new sulfadiazine structure containing an O–H–N hydrogen bond was identified. In the protic solvent water-d2 and in dependence on pH and the position of the amidogen hydrogen atom nine possible SDZ conformations were analyzed and five structures were identified. Good conformity between theory and calculation of 1H NMR was observed. Unfortunately, 13C NMR is not sensitive enough for comparison and differentiation. In order to verify the identified structures, additional NBO/NLMO (natural localized molecular orbital) analyses were conducted (calculation of net atomic charges, bond polarity, atomic valence, and electron delocalization). Finally, conformation optimizations were performed in order to investigate the stability of the SDZ species. We showed that SDZ contains no Sdouble bond; length as m-dashO double bond, but that it has two S–O single bonds. Surprisingly, negative charges were observed at the pyrimidine nitrogen atom. With these results, the known structure of SDZ was revised. Studies of the geometrical structure and the torsion angles showed that SDZ is very flexible and can be easily fitted to the sorbent. These observations would explain the strong sorbance and hence the rapid formation of non-extractable residues in the environment because SDZ acts as a strong ligand. These results show that that the sulfonamide hydrogen is important for the biological activity but the pyrimidine nitrogen and the sulfonamide oxygen is responsible for the sorbance in environment.