J. Hawari et al., Characterization of metabolites during biodegradation of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) with municipal anaerobic sludge, APPL ENVIR, 66(6), 2000, pp. 2652-2657
The biodegradation of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) in liqu
id cultures with municipal anaerobic sludge showed that at least two degrad
ation routes were involved in the disappearance of the cyclic nitramine. In
one route, RDX was reduced to give the familiar nitroso derivatives hexahy
dro-1-nitroso-3,5dinitro-1,3,5-triazine (MNX) and hexahydro-1,3-dinitroso-5
-nitro-1,3,5-triazine (DNX), In the second route, two novel metabolites, me
thylenedinitramine [(O2NNH)(2)CH2] and bis(hydroxymethyl)nitramine [(HOCH2)
(2) NNO2], formed and were presumed to be ring cleavage products produced b
y enzymatic hydrolysis of the inner C-N bonds of RDX, None of the above met
abolites accumulated in the system, and they disappeared to produce nitrous
oxide (N2O) as a nitrogen-containing end product and formaldehyde (HCHO),
methanol (MeOH), and formic acid (HCOOH) that in turn disappeared to produc
e CH4 and CO2 as carbon-containing end products.