Enantioselectivity in degradation and transformation of quizalofop-ethyl in soils

The enantioselective degradation of quizalofop-ethyl and its metabolite quizalofop-acid in two soils, a Wuhan acidic soil and a Baoding alkaline soil, was investigated. The dissipation of quizalofop-ethyl consisted of two phases, a rapidly deceasing first phase that lasted 1?day and a slowly decreasing second phase that extended till the end of the incubation. It is shown that S-quizalofop-ethyl degraded slightly faster than R-quizalofop-ethyl in the two soils. Further incubation of enantiopure enaniomers showed that quizalofop-ethyl was configurationally stable in soil. Quizalofop-acid was produced quickly, and its amount reached a maximum at 16?days time and then decreased slowly with half-lives ranging from 11 to 21?days. The results also showed that quizalofop-acid degraded faster in the acidic Wuhan soil than in the alkaline Baoding soil. At last, significant enantiomerization from S-quizalofop-acid to R-quizalofop-acid was observed, and the enantiomerization was fast, resulting in residues enriched with R-quizalofop-acid whatever racemic quizalofop-ethyl or pure enantiomers were initially applied in the soils. Chirality 24:552-557, 2012. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.