Light induced transformation of tribenuron-methyl

To study the photostability of sulfonylurea herbicide tribenuron-methyl (methyl 2-[[[[ N-(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) methylamino] carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]benzoate), in the field, model experiments with organic solvents were performed. Irradiation of tribenuron-methyl in methanol, isopropanol and cyclohexane yielded 4-methoxy-6-methyl-2-aminomethyl-1,3,5-triazine; methyl-2-(aminosulfonyl) benzoate; N-(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-N-methyl urea; N-(2-carbomethoxy phenyl)-N-(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-N'-methyl urea; 2-(aminosulfonyl) benzoic acid, N-methyl saccharin and saccharin in considerable amounts. The rate of degradation in different solvents followed first-order kinetics with a statistically significant correlation coefficient.