Enantioselective environmental behavior of the chiral herbicide fenoxaprop-ethyl and its chiral metabolite fenoxaprop in soil

The enantioselective degradation behavior of fenoxaprop-ethyl (FE) and its chiral metabolite fenoxaprop (FA) in three soils under native conditions was investigated. Two pairs of enantiomers were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an amylose tri-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (ADMPC) chiral column. The degradation of racemic FE in three soils showed the herbicidally inactive S-(-)-enantiomer degraded faster than the active R-(+)-enantiomer. FE was configurationally stable in soils because no interconversion to the respective antipodes was observed during incubation of the enantiopure S-(-)- or R-(+)-FE. The main metabolites of FE were confirmed as FA and 6-chloro-2,3-dihydrobenzoxazol-2-one (CDHB), and the formation of the chiral metabolite FA showed enantioselectivity in soils. The degradation of rac-FA was also enantioselective with the S-(-)-FA preferentially degraded: the half-life (t(1/2)) of the S-form in the three soils ranged from 2.03 to 5.17 days, and that of R-form ranged from 2.42 to 20.39 days. The inversion of the S-(-)-enantiomer into the R-(+)-enantiomer occurred in two of the three soils when the enantiopure S-(-)- and R-(+)-FA were incubated. The data from sterilized control experiments indicated that the enantioselectivity of FE and FA was attributed to microbially mediated processes.