Contribution to the reduction-induced fluorescence enhancement of natural organic matter: Aromatic ketones outweigh quinones.

This work involves the comparison of the fluorescence excitation - emission matrices of different low-molecular-weight carbonyl compounds and natural organic matter (NOM). The aim is to determine if quinone or aromatic ketone groups are more responsible for the reduction-induced fluorescence enhancement of NOM. After reduction, the aromatic ketones showed a significantly greater fluorescence change than the quinones, proving that the former play a more important role. Further analysis of the fluorescence of the NOM samples after re-oxidization by oxygen with a Cu catalyst, provided additional reliable evidence in support of the dominant role of aromatic ketones in the fluorescence change. This work demonstrates that aromatic ketone moieties should be given more attention when considering the physicochemical properties of NOM and related environmental processes.