This paper reports on the degradation of phenols and anilines using hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer and enzyme from Serratia marcescens Y-SM01 as catalyst. First

the CODCr values before and after degradation were measured. Then

changes of molecular structures during the process were investigated with UV-VIS

IR and HPLC. It was found that after degradation

for some compounds such as hydroquinone

peaks on UV-VIS and IR spectra which belong to phenyl ring all disappeared

and HPLC found small molecules such as organic compounds. So the mechanism was clarified that in the degradation the phenyl ring was cleaved and small molecules were introduced

which just caused the CODCr values of degradable compounds such as hydroquinone to decline greatly. Also

the connection between degradation properties and structures of phenols and anilines was analyzed

and the conclusion was as follows: di-/tri-phenols/anilines were easier to degrade than mono-phenols/anilines; ortho-/para- substituted compounds were easier to degrade than meta- substituted compounds; electron-attracting substituents such as —OH

—NH2

—OCH3 made degradation easier

while electron-withdrawing substituents such as —NO2

—Cl

—COOH made degradation more difficult.