Aerobic microbial degradation of aromatic sulfur-containing compounds and effect of chemical structures.

Batch data of aerobic microbial degradation rate constants Kb of phenylthio, phenylsulfinyl and phenylsulfonyl acetates have been determined, and the qualitative relationships between their Kb and chemical structures were analyzed. The phenylthio acetates were most subject to microbial transformation, followed by the phenylsulfonyl acetates. The compounds with a methoxy group were easier degraded than those with a isopropoxy group. The nitro-group and chloro-group on benzene were shown to lower the biodegradability, while the nitro-group at the para-position had stronger side effect on degradation than at the ortho-position.