Structural elucidation of phototransformation products of azimsulfuron in water

The photodegradation of the sulfonylurea herbicide azimsulfuron, N-[[(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl)amino]carbonyl]-1-methyl-4-(2-methyl-2H-tetrazole-5-yl)-1H-pyrazole-5-sulfonamide (AZS), was studied in water at different wavelengths and in the presence of photocatalysts. AZS was rapidly degraded by UV light, affording three photoproducts. The main product, accounting for about 70% of photodegraded herbicide, was identified as 6-amino-5-[(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl)methylamino]-1,5,6,8-tetrahydro-7-oxa-8lambda(6)-tia-1,2,5,6-tetraza-azulen-4-one (ADTA) by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. With simulated sunlight irradiation, the reaction was slower and 2-amino-4,6-dimethoxypyrimidine (DPA) and 1-methyl-4-(2-methyl-2H-tetrazole-5-yl)-1H-pyrazole-5-sulfonamide (MPS), arising from a photohydrolytic cleavage of the sulfonylurea bridge, were the only byproducts observed. The reactions followed first-order kinetics. The addition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) did not modify significantly the AZS photodegradation rate. The presence of Fe2O3 accelerated more than twice the reaction rate affording two major products, DPA and MPS, together with minor amounts of N-[[(5-hydroxy-4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl)amino]carbonyl]-1-methyl-4-(2-methyl-2H-tetrazole-5-yl)-1H-pyrazole-5-sulfonamide (AZS-OH). The greatest degradation rate was detected in the presence of TiO2. Only the photohydroxylation product AZS-OH was observed, which was transformed rapidly into oxalic acid.