Alfalfa metabolism of propham

Root-treated alfalfa absorbs, translocates, and metabolizes phenyl-¹⁴C]isopropyl carbanilate (¹⁴C]propham). After 7 days of root treatment, the distribution of radiolabel was 73% for shoots and 27% for roots. Shoots and roots were extracted and separated into the polar, nonpolar, and solid residual components using a mixture of chloroform, methanol and water. The insoluble residues accounted for approximately 40% of the ¹⁴C found in shoots and roots. The nonpolar fraction (6.1% of the radiolabel in shoots and roots) was not characterized, but was shown to be some component other than parent propham. Propham was not found in either shoots or roots. The polar metabolites were partly purified on Amberlite XAD-2. Cellulase-liberated aglycones were derivatized and separated by high-performance liquid and gas-liquid chromatography. The infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectral data showed that the polar metabolites of alfalfa shoots and roots were glycoside conjugates of isopropyl 2-hydroxycarbanilate (2-hydroxypropham) and isopropyl 4-hydroxycarbanilate (4-hydroxypropham). Conjugated 4-hydroxypropham accounted for 45.9% of the ¹⁴C in the shoots and 3.4% of the ¹⁴C in the roots. Conjugated 2-hydroxypropham accounted for 3.4% of the ¹⁴C in the shoots and 1.4% of the ¹⁴C in the roots.