Photoisomerization kinetics of trifloxystrobin

Area of Science:

• Photochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry

Background:

• Trifloxystrobin (TFS) is a widely used strobilurine fungicide.
• Understanding its degradation pathways, such as photoisomerization, is crucial for environmental and agricultural applications.
• Previous studies have not fully characterized the photoisomerization products and kinetics of TFS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the photoisomerization kinetics of trifloxystrobin (TFS) in acetone under artificial sunlight.
• To identify and characterize the resulting isomers using various spectroscopic techniques.
• To determine the quantum yield and reaction constants for the isomerization process.

Main Methods:

• High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for isomer separation and analysis.
• Preparative HPLC for isolating individual isomers in crystalline form.
• Spectroscopic characterization using UV, IR, Raman, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and Mass Spectrometry (MS).

Main Results:

• Trifloxystrobin (EE conformation) converted to an equilibrium mixture of four isomers (EZ, EE, ZZ, ZE) after 7 hours of illumination.
• Individual isomers were successfully separated and characterized.
• Quantum yields and reaction rate constants for the photoisomerization were determined.
• Distinct spectral features for each isomer were identified, showing significant analytical utility.

Conclusions:

• The photoisomerization of trifloxystrobin yields a mixture of four isomers with distinct spectral properties.
• The detailed characterization provides valuable data for analytical method development and understanding TFS environmental fate.
• The determined kinetics and spectral data are significant for the quality control and analysis of trifloxystrobin formulations.