Application of solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to characterize intermediates in a joint solar–microbial process for total mineralization of Aroclor 1254

A combined solid-phase microextraction–GC–MS analytical technique was used to monitor the formation of metabolites in the biodegradation of biphenyl, which were originally obtained from the solar photodechlorination of Aroclor 1254 by Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707 and Burkholderia sp LB400. In both cases, the following metabolites were detected: 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-OH-BP), 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl (2,3-di-OH-BP), and benzoic acid, which was detected as its benzoate derivative 1-methylethylbenzoate. A time course study for the formation and disappearance of these metabolites was used to construct a degradation pathway, which in both cases, involved the formation of 2-OH-BP and 2,3-di-OH-BP.