Chemistry Research Seminar

Karl J. Feierabend, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, The College of Wooster

• B.S., Furman University
• Ph.D. University of Colorado at Boulder

Aqueous Photochemistry of Warfarin and 4-Hydroxycoumarins

Professor Feierabend will present a seminar highlighting his research from his 2023-2024 research leave.

The environmental fate of many anticoagulant rodenticides is not well characterized. One class of such compounds are derivatives of 4-hydroxycoumarin (4HC), some of which show significant water solubility. The 4HC family of compounds have a strong absorption feature in the UVB, making them susceptible to photolysis by sunlight. The Feierabend group has set out to study the kinetics and mechanism of the photochemistry of aqueous-phase 4HC compounds, with a particular focus on warfarin, the most prevalent 4HC rodenticide, as well as a commonly prescribed pharmaceutical for blood-clotting. This lecture will present the story of their photochemical fate as studied using chemical kinetics, absorption and emission spectroscopy, computational chemistry, and mass spectrometry, the work for which was a focus for Dr. Feierabend’s recent research leave. Results suggest that warfarin may degrade significantly over short time periods in surface waters with the formation of toxic byproducts.

Ruth W. Williams Hall of Life Sciences, Room 045