Adsorption of Selected Pharmaceutical Compounds onto Activated Carbon in Dilute Aqueous Solutions Exemplified by Acetaminophen, Diclofenac, and Sulfamethoxazole

Table 1

Physicochemical properties of the target compounds.

	Acetaminophen	Diclofenac	Sulfamethoxazole
Formula	C8H9NO2	C14H11Cl2NO2	C10H11N3O3S
Systematic name	N-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)acetamide	2-(2-(2,6-Dichlorophenylamino)-phenyl)acetic  acid	4-Amino-N-(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)-benzenesulfonamide
Chemical structure
Molecular weight	151.17	296.15	253.28
Use	Analgesic and antipyretic	Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug and as an analgesic	Sulfonamide bacteriostatic antibiotic
Solubility in water; (mg/L, 25°C)^a	3.035 × 10^4	4.47	3,942
	0.46	4.51	0.89
(25°C)	9.51	4.0	1.7; 6.56

From ChemSpider (http://www.chemspider.com/).