0000000000388249

AUTHOR

ÅKe Bergman

Molecular orbital studies on brominated diphenyl ethers. Part II—reactivity and quantitative structure–activity (property) relationships

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame retardants and are increasingly turning up in the environment. Their structural similarities to polychlorinated biphenyls and thyroid hormones suggest they may be a risk to human health. The present study examines the reactivity of brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs) on the basis of the electronic structures as calculated by semiempirical AM1 self-consistent field molecular orbital (SCF-MO) method. Frontier orbital energies were used to elucidate the reactivity of BDEs in electrophilic, nucleophilic and photolytic reactions. From an examination of the frontier electron densities, the regioselectivity, or orientation, of metabolic…

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Molecular orbital studies on brominated diphenyl ethers. Part I—conformational properties

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as additive flame retardants and quantities in the environment are on the rise. Because they are structurally related to polychlorinated biphenyls and also to thyroid hormones, there is serious concern that PBDEs may pose a danger to human health. Knowledge of their conformational properties is key to assessing their environmental fate and risk. The conformational properties of PBDEs were investigated by quantum chemical methods including semiempirical self-consistent field molecular orbital (SCF-MO), ab initio SCF-MO and density functional theory (DFT). Conformational analyses of model congeners 2,2',4,6'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether and 2…

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Polychlorinated biphenyls and some pesticides in perch (Perca Fluviatilis) from inland waters of Latvia

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT - related substances, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were analysed in perch (Perca fluviatilis) from Latvian lakes and rivers. DDE is present in the highest concentrations in all samples; 62–170 ng/g lipid weight in perch from rural areas and 460 ng/g in perch from the Riga area. Individual dominating PCB congeners were in the range 16–45 ng/g and 200–210 ng/g, respectively. The degree of contamination of rural areas in Latvia of these organohalogen substances is in the same range as in background areas in Sweden. Riga, the major urban area in Latvia, is shown to be more polluted with PCBs than other areas in Latvia.

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