Identification of a 2-phenylbenzotriazole (PBTA)-type mutagen, PBTA-2, in water from the Nishitakase River in Kyoto.

We previously isolated five mutagens, compounds I-V, in blue rayon-adsorbed materials from the Nishitakase River in Kyoto. The chemical structure of compound I, a major mutagen that accounted for 21% of the total mutagenicity, was determined to be 2-[2-(acetylamino)-4-[bis(2-methoxyethyl)amino]-5-methoxyphenyl]-5-am ino-7-bromo-4-chloro-2H-benzotriazole (PBTA-1). Compound II was also a major mutagen and accounted for 17% of the total mutagenicity. In this study, a large quantity (1.2 mg) of compound II was isolated from adsorbate to 27 kg of blue cotton, and its UV, mass, and 1H NMR spectra were analyzed. On the basis of the spectral data, compound II was deduced to be the PBTA-1 analogue 2-[2-(acetylamino)-4-[N-(2-cyanoethyl)ethylamino]-5-methoxyphenyl]-5- amino-7-bromo-4-chloro-2H-benzotriazole (PBTA-2). As with PBTA-1, PBTA-2 was synthesized from an azo dye by reduction and chlorination. Since all of the spectra of PBTA-2 coincided with those of compound II obtained from river water, compound II was concluded to be PBTA-2. PBTA-2 is a newly identified potent mutagen, which induces 93 000 and 3 200 000 revertants of Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and YG1024 per microgram, respectively, in the presence of S9 mix. Like PBTA-1, PBTA-2 may also be produced from an azo dye during industrial processes in dyeing factories and treatment at sewage plants.