Influence of the Chemical Environment on Metolachlor Conformations
J. Agric. Food Chem. 1999, 47, 4435−4442 4435 Influence of the Chemical Environment on Metolachlor Conformations Shalini Jayasundera,† Walter F. Schmidt,‡ Cathleen J. Hapeman,‡ and Alba Torrents*,† Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory NRI, ARS/USDA, Beltsville, Maryland 20705 Metolachlor exists in multiple, different stable conformations in solution. Assignment of the NMR frequencies to chemical structure is a prerequisite to understanding the behavior of individual conformations. 1H NMR experiments of metolachlor in different chemical environments identified the labile sites of metolachlor and environments that influence conformational/configurational changes. Within very specific chemical environments, metolachlor atropisomers aS,12S (aR,12R) and aR,12S (aS,12R) freely interchange, and consequently, the multiple conformations also interchange. The changes in chemical environments, which most alter the conformations and molecular dynamics of metolachlor, identify the most critical components affecting its environmental fate. These results enable a structural interpretation of conformational changes that can influence the environmental fate of metolachlor. Keywords: Metolachlor; NMR; molecular mechanics; chemical environment; atropisomers INTRODUCTION gence herbicide used to control most annual grasses and The environmental fate of pesticides and other or- broad leaf weeds in beans, corn, cotton, potatoes, etc. ganic molecules depend on their interactions with the (Montgomery, 1993). It is one of the most widely used local chemical environment at the molecular level. Most pesticides in the U.S. agricultural crop production organic molecules are conformationally flexible, with the (Aspelin, 1994). In general, the chloroacetamides inhibit active conformations being only a few of the accessible the biosynthesis of fatty acids, lipids, proteins, iso- conformations in solution.
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