| Abstract: | Persulfate oxidation of two fulvic acids from different soils was accomplished. This is a new mild chemical degradative method which differentiates between fulvic acids isolated from soils developed under widely differing environments. A fulvic acid isolated from an Humic Haplorthod gives as major oxidation products phenolic acids, whereas a fulvic acid from an Andic Hapludult yields benzenecarboxylic acids as most abundant compounds. The possibility to differentiate between fulvic acids from different soils, as chemical degradation with persulfate does, offers interesting prospects to the characterization of humic materials. |
