Microbial Biotransformation Products and Pathways of Dichloroacetamide Herbicide Safeners.

Dichloroacetamide safeners are common ingredients in commercial herbicide formulations. We previously investigated the environmental fate of dichloroacetamides via photolysis and hydrolysis, but other potentially important, environmentally relevant fate processes remain uncharacterized and may yield products of concern. Here, we examined microbial biotransformation of two dichloroacetamide safeners, benoxacor and dichlormid, to identify products and elucidate pathways. Using aerobic microcosms inoculated with river sediment, we demonstrated that microbial biotransformations of benoxacor and dichlormid proceed primarily, if not exclusively, via cometabolism. Benoxacor was transformed by both hydrolysis and microbial biotransformation processes; in most cases, biotransformation rates were faster than hydrolysis rates. We identified multiple novel products of benoxacor and dichlormid not previously observed for microbial processes, with several products similar to those reported for structurally related chloroacetamide herbicides, thus indicating potential for conserved biotransformation mechanisms across both chemical classes. Observed products include monochlorinated species such as the banned herbicide CDAA (from dichlormid), glutathione conjugates, and sulfur-containing species. We propose a transformation pathway wherein benoxacor and dichlormid are first dechlorinated, likely via microbial hydrolysis, and subsequently conjugated with glutathione. This is the first study reporting biological dechlorination of dichloroacetamides to yield monochlorinated products in aerobic environments.

Acid- and Base-Mediated Hydrolysis of Dichloroacetamide Herbicide Safeners.

Safeners are used extensively in commercial herbicide formulations. Although safeners are regulated as inert ingredients, some of their transformation products have enhanced biological activity. Here, to fill gaps in our understanding of safener environmental fate, we determined rate constants and transformation products associated with the acid- and base-mediated hydrolysis of dichloroacetamide safeners AD-67, benoxacor, dichlormid, and furilazole. Second-order rate constants for acid- (HCl) and base-mediated (NaOH) dichloroacetamide hydrolysis (2.8 × 10-3 to 0.46 and 0.3-500 M-1 h-1, respectively) were, in many cases (5 of 8), greater than those reported for their chloroacetamide herbicide co-formulants. In particular, the rate constant for base-mediated hydrolysis of benoxacor was 2 orders of magnitude greater than that of its active ingredient co-formulant, S-metolachlor. At circumneutral pH, only benoxacor underwent appreciable hydrolysis (5.3 × 10-4 h-1), and under high-pH conditions representative of lime-soda softening, benoxacor's half-life was 13 h─a timescale consistent with partial transformation during water treatment. Based on Orbitrap LC-MS/MS analysis of dichloroacetamide hydrolysis product mixtures, we propose structures for major products and three distinct mechanistic pathways that depend on the system pH and compound structure. These include base-mediated amide cleavage, acid-mediated amide cleavage, and acid-mediated oxazolidine ring opening. Collectively, this work will help to identify systems in which hydrolysis contributes to the transformation of dichloroacetamides, while also highlighting important differences in the reactivity of dichloroacetamides and their active chloroacetamide co-formulants.

Photochemical Transformations of Dichloroacetamide Safeners.

Dichloroacetamide safeners are commonly added to commercial chloroacetamide herbicide formulations and widely used worldwide, but their environmental fate has garnered little scrutiny as a result of their classification as "inert" ingredients. Here, we investigated the photolysis of dichloroacetamide safeners to better understand their persistence and the nature of their transformation products in surface waters. High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to characterize photoproducts. Of the four commonly used dichloroacetamide safeners, only benoxacor undergoes direct photolysis under simulated natural sunlight ( t1/2 ∼ 10 min). Via a photoinitiated ring closure, benoxacor initially yields a monochlorinated intermediate that degrades over longer irradiation time scales to produce two fully dechlorinated diastereomers and a tautomer, which further photodegrade over several days to a structurally related aldehyde confirmed via NMR. Dichlormid, AD-67, and furilazole were more slowly degraded by indirect photolysis in the presence of the photosensitizers nitrate, nitrite, and humic acid. Reactive entities involved in these reactions are likely hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen based on the use of selective quenchers. These safeners also directly photolyzed under higher energy ultraviolet (UV) light, suggesting their potential transformation in engineered systems using UV for disinfection. The finding that dichloroacetamide safeners can undergo photolysis in environmental systems over relevant time scales demonstrates the importance of evaluating the fate of this class of "inert" agrochemicals.