Mechanistic Investigation of Dimethylmercury Formation Mediated by a Sulfide Mineral Surface

Lian, Peng; Mou, Zhongyu; Cooper, Connor J.; Johnston, Ryne C.; Brooks, Scott C.; Gu, Baohua; Govind, Niranjan; Jonsson, Sofi; Parks, Jerry M.

doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.1c04014

Title: Mechanistic Investigation of Dimethylmercury Formation Mediated by a Sulfide Mineral Surface

Journal Article · Fri Jun 11 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Physical Chemistry. A, Molecules, Spectroscopy, Kinetics, Environment, and General Theory

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.1c04014· OSTI ID:1809955

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Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Stockholm Univ. (Sweden)

Mercury (Hg) pollution is a global environmental problem. The abiotic formation of dimethylmercury (DMeHg) from monomethylmercury (MMeHg) may account for a large portion of DMeHg in oceans. Previous experimental work has shown that abiotic formation of DMeHg from MMeHg can be facilitated by reduced sulfur groups on sulfide mineral surfaces. In that work, a mechanism was proposed in which neighboring MMeHg moieties bound to sulfide sites on a mineral surface react through an S_N2-type mechanism to form DMeHg and incorporate the remaining Hg atoms into the mineral surface. Here, we perform density functional theory calculations to explore the mechanisms of DMeHg formation on the 110 surface of a CdS(s) (hawleyite) nanoparticle. We show that coordination of MMeHg substituents to adjacent reduced sulfur groups protruding from the surface indeed facilitates DMeHg formation and that the reaction proceeds through direct transmethylation from one MMeHg substituent to another. Coordination of Hg by multiple S atoms provides a transition-state stabilization and activates a C–Hg bond for methyl transfer. In addition, solvation effects play an important role in the surface reconstruction of the nanoparticle and in decreasing the energetic barrier for DMeHg formation relative to the corresponding reaction in vacuo.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1809955

Journal Information:: Journal of Physical Chemistry. A, Molecules, Spectroscopy, Kinetics, Environment, and General Theory, Vol. 125, Issue 24; ISSN 1089-5639

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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