Reactivity of the insecticide chlorpyrifos-methyl toward hydroxyl and perhydroxyl ion. Effect of cyclodextrins

Nucleophilic Neutralization of Organophosphates: Lack of Selectivity or Plenty of Versatility?

Neutralization of organophosphates is an issue of public health and safety, involving agrochemicals and chemical warfare. A promising approach is the nucleophilic neutralization, scope of this review, which focuses on the molecular nucleophiles: hydroxide, imidazole derivatives, alpha nucleophiles, amines and other nucleophiles. A reactivity mapping is given correlating the pathways and reaction efficiency with structural dependence of the nucleophile (basicity) and the organophosphate (electrophilic centers, P=O/P=S shift, leaving and non-leaving group). Reactions extremely unfavorable (>20 years) can be reduced to seconds with various nucleophiles, some which are catalytic. Although there is no universal nucleophile, a lack of selectivity in some cases accounts for plenty of versatility in other reactions. The ideal neutralization requires a solid mechanistic understanding, together with balancing factors such as milder conditions, fast process, selectivity and less toxic products.

Degradation kinetics of chlorpyrifos and diazinon in volcanic and non-volcanic soils: influence of cyclodextrins

The intensive use of insecticides such as chlorpyrifos (CPF) and diazinon (DZN) in the agricultural activities worldwide has produced contamination of soils and/or transport to non-target areas including their distribution to surface and groundwaters. Cyclodextrins (CDs) have been proposed as an alternative in remediation technologies based on the separation of contaminants from soils because they could allow a higher bioavailability for their degradation with a low environmental impact. In this work, the degradation pattern of CPF and DZN and the formation and dissipation of the major degradation products 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) and 2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol (IMPH) was established in four agricultural volcanic and non-volcanic soils belonging to Andisol, Ultisol, and Mollisol orders. Both pesticides were highly adsorbed in these soils, consequently, with a greater probability of contaminating them. In contrast, the adsorption of their two main metabolites was low or null; therefore, they are potential groundwater contaminants. The degradation processes were studied in the natural and amended soils with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and methyl-β-cyclodextrin (Mβ-CD) for CPF and DZN, respectively. A slow degradation of CPF and DZN was obtained for volcanic soils with observable residues until the end of the incubation time (150-180 days). In Mollisols, the higher degradation rate of CPF was favored by the neutral to basic pH, and for DZN it was related to the lower adsorption and higher bioavailability. The amendment of soils with CDs produced slower degradation rates which led to a greater concentration of the compounds at the end of the incubation time. This effect was more pronounced for DZN. The exception was the Andisol, with no significant changes for both compounds regarding the unamended soil. No residues of TCP were observed for this soil in both conditions during the whole incubation time; nevertheless, the accumulation of TCP was significant in the Ultisol and Mollisols, but the concentrations were lower for the amended soils. The accumulation of IMPH was important in Mollisol amended soils; however, their residues were observed in the volcanic soils during the whole incubation period in the natural and amended soils. An important enhancement of the microbial activity occurred in the system β-CD/CPF in Mollisols, without a more effective degradation of the insecticide. The opposite effect was observed in the system Mβ-CD/DZN mainly in the oxidative activity in all soils. The higher degradation of DZN and IMPH in natural Mollisols was related to the higher hydrolytic and oxidative activities. The stability of the inclusion complexes formed could play an important role for explaining the results obtained with the amendments.

Inclusion of the insecticide fenitrothion in dimethylated-β-cyclodextrin: unusual guest disorder in the solid state and efficient retardation of the hydrolysis rate of the complexed guest in alkaline solution

An anhydrous 1:1 crystalline inclusion complex between the organophosphorus insecticide fenitrothion [O,O-dimethyl O-(3-methyl-4-nitrophenyl)phosphorothioate] and the host compound heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin (DIMEB) was prepared and its structure elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This revealed two independent host molecules in the asymmetric unit. In one of these, the cavity is occupied by two disordered guest components (distinguishable as rotamers with respect to the P–OAr bond) while in the other, three distinct guest components with site-occupancies 0.44, 0.29 and 0.27 appear, the last having a reversed orientation relative to all the other components. Kinetic studies of the alkaline hydrolysis of fenitrothion in the presence of DIMEB showed a remarkable reduction of 84% in the rate of this reaction relative to that for the free substrate, a value exceeding those previously attained with the native hosts, β- and γ-cyclodextrin, and fully methylated β-cyclodextrin.

Effect of cyclodextrins on the reactivity of fenitrothion

The hydrolysis reaction of fenitrothion was studied in water containing 2% dioxane and in the presence of native cyclodextrins (α-, β- and γ-CD) and two commercially available modified derivatives, namely, permethylated β- and α-cyclodextrin (TRIMEB and TRIMEA, respectively). The kinetics of the reaction in the presence of TRIMEA could not be measured because the complex formed is insoluble and precipitated even at low concentration. On the other hand, the reaction is only weakly affected by the presence of α-CD. The hydrolysis reaction is inhibited by all the other cyclodextrins. From the kinetic data the association equilibrium constants for the formation of the 1:1 inclusion complexes were determined as 417, 511 and 99M(-1) for β-CD, TRIMEB and γ-CD, respectively. Despite the differences in the association constants for β- and γ-CD, the observed inhibition effect is about the same and this is due to the fact that the rate of hydrolysis in the cavity of γ-CD is smaller than that in the cavity of β-CD. The strongest inhibitor is TRIMEB and this result is consistent with the known structure of the complex in the solid state.

PM-IRRAS assessment of the compression-mediated orientation of the nanocavity of a monoacylated beta-cyclodextrin in monolayers at the air-water interface

The structural orientation adopted along the compression-decompression isotherm by a monoacylated beta-cyclodextrin (C16-betaCD) at the air-water interface was assessed by polarization-modulation infrared reflection-adsorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). The adoption of different orientations of the cyclic oligosaccharide unit, relative to the interfacial plane, was interpreted analyzing the PM-IRRAS band intensity ratios of specific vibrations corresponding to the cyclodextrin moiety as a function of the surface pressure for successive compression/decompression cycles. The spectroscopic analysis revealed that the cyclic oligosaccharide modifies its position under compression from one in which the plane of the cavity of the monoacylated beta-cyclodextrin lies almost parallel to the interface to another in which the plane of the cavity is perpendicular to the interface. Through the PM-IRRAS analysis, it was also possible to evidence the establishment of an intermolecular hydrogen bonding network that may play an important role in the dynamic properties of the monolayer packing. The hydrogen bonding network becomes more important with the increases of surface pressure, up to a molecular packing limit, and it imparts the surface properties of the film for future compression-decompression cycles.