The oxidation products formed from: Soil organic matter by hydrogen peroxide treatment

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Abstract
The oxidation products formed from soil organic matter during hydrogen peroxide digestion were studied by means of analyses of carbon and nitrogen, thin layer chromatography, infrared Spectroscopy, and redox titration. The carbon remaining after hydrogen peroxide digestion, as expressed in percentage by WeIght of the original soil was 0.57 to 4.09, corresponding to 17.81 to 29.00 per cent of the carbon fOUnd in the original soil. The nitrogen remaining after the same treatment was 75 to 100 per cent of total nitrogen in the original soil. The greater part of the remaining water soluble nItrogen was NH3-N. The thin layer chromatography showed the presence of oxalic acid and V.V. light-ahsorbing substances in the oxidation products. No organic matter other than oxalate Was indicated on the infrared spectra. The amount of water soluble oxalate formed from 100 g of soil determined by means of redox titration was 5.7 to 117.0 mmole. Assuming that the ratio of solution: soil is 5:1 at the final stage of per oxidation, the concentration of oxalate in the SUpernatant solution was in the range from 0.011 to 0.234 M.