Rougier et al.
JOCArticle
organophosphorus poisons.12 The plough layer of arable
soils may contain >3000 kg N ha-1; most of this is composed
of a continuum of complex organic forms. The total soluble
N in soils is composed of mineral N and soluble organic N
(SON). Studies with fresh soil have indicated that as much
SON as mineral N can exist in soil under agricultural
cropping systems. In agricultural soils, free amino acids
and amino sugars account for <5% of SON, heterocyclic
N bases up to 15%, and amino N in peptides and proteins for
35-57%.13 So, it is important to study the reactivity of
organophosphorus insecticides with N nucleophiles such as
amines because the presence of organic N compounds may
affect the effectiveness of the insecticides and their fate in
soils.
Fenitrothion (1) is a broad spectrum insecticide and
acaricide used for pest control in rice, vegetables, wheat,
cereals, and cotton;14 it is also considered by the World
Health Organization (WHO) effective for the control of the
vector of malaria.15 It has low adult mammalian toxicity but
it is a known endocrine disrupting chemical.16
7.7-11.8 proceeds through SN2(P) while in the presence of
cetyltrimethylammonium surfactants SN2(C) was also
observed.25
In the present work we studied the reactivity and regio-
chemistry of 1 with HO-, HOO-, NH2OH, NH2NH2, and
n-butylamine (BuNH2) in aqueous basic solutions. Hydro-
gen peroxide has been used for decontamination of chemical
warfare agents,7 and in advanced oxidation processes for
environmental remediation, such as Fenton and photo-
Fenton.26 This oxidant has the advantage over others that
it is environmentally friendly leading in some cases to the
total mineralization of the organic pollutant.26a Hydroxyla-
mine is an ambident R-nucleophile, readily alkylated on
nitrogen but often acylated and generally phosphorylated
on oxygen, with reaction through oxygen favored for harder
electrophiles.12 In this work, reaction at the P center was the
only pathway observed with the two O nucleophiles HO-
and HOO-, while competition by SN2(C) was found with the
other nucleophiles; no evidence of SNAr was obtained in any
case. An important R-effect was observed with HOO-,
NH2OH, and NH2O-.
Organophosphorus esters and thioesters containing
both alkyl and aryl substituents exhibit three reaction path-
ways for nucleophilic attack: attack at phosphorus, resulting
in P-OAr cleavage (SN2(P)); attack at the aliphatic car-
bon with C-O cleavage (SN2(C)); and attack on the aro-
matic moiety with Ar-O cleavage (SNAr).17-19 These three
pathways were detected in the reactions of different nucleo-
philes with 1. For instance, the hydrolysis of 1 occurs with
C-O cleavage at pH <8,20 and with P-OAr cleavage at
pH >9.3,20-22 Attack on the P center was the only pathway
observed for the reaction of 1 with several phenoxides and
some O R-nucleophiles,22 while competition of the SNAr
pathway was found in the reaction with the N nucleophiles
n-butylamine, ethanolamine, and glycyl ethyl ester.23 On the
other hand, the ethanolysis of 1 with alkali metal alkoxides in
anhydrous ethanol proceeds by nucleophilic attack at both
P and aliphatic carbon centers and a minor SNAr route
(e7%) was also detected.24 The reaction of 1 with a series
of R-nucleophile oximates having pKa values in the range of
Results and Discussion
Hydrolysis Reaction. The hydrolysis of Fenitrothion (1)
was studied under pseudo-first-order conditions in 2%
1,4-dioxane/H2O at 25 °C at several NaOH concentrations
and at constant ionic strength (I=1 M (NaCl)). The UV-vis
spectrum of the product matches that of 3-methyl-4-nitro-
phenoxide (2) at the expected concentration; therefore, as for
the reaction studied in 2% acetonitrile (ACN)/H2O,21 the
only reaction taking place is P-O bond fission, (eq 1), as was
previously demonstrated at pH >8.20 Further evidence was
obtained by following the degradation of a 9.60 ꢀ 10-3
M
solution of 1 in 1,4-dioxane/D2O/H2O (5:47.5:47.5) in the
presence of 1.40 M NaOH at room temperature by 31P NMR
over a period of 9 days. The initial reading showed a single
peak at 65.19 ppm, corresponding to 1;24,25 as the reaction
proceeded, another peak was observed at 58.13 ppm corre-
sponding to O,O-dimethylphosphorothioate (3);24,25,27 this
was the only peak remaining after all the Fenitrothion was
consumed (Figure 1).28
~
(12) Kirby, A. J.; Davies, J. E.; Brandao, T. A. S.; da Silva, P. F.; Rocha,
W. R.; Nome, F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 12374–12375.
(13) Murphy, D. V.; Macdonald, A. J.; Stockdale, E. A.; Goulding,
K. W. T.; Fortune, S.; Gaunt, J. L.; Poulton, P. R.; Wakefield, J. A.;
Webster, C. P.; Wilmer, W. S. Biol. Fertil. Soils 2000, 30, 374–387.
eval_WHO_Jan_2010_ok.pdf. Accessed February 27, 2010.
Control Today. Current WHO Recommendations, Working Document, March
2005. Roll Back Malaria Department. World Health Organization, Geneva,
The value of the second-orderrateconstant for this reaction
was calculated from the slope of the linear plot of kobs vs HO-
(Figure S1, Supporting Information) as (2.50 ( 0.08) ꢀ 10-3
M-1 s-1. This value is slightly higher than that determined
before in 2%ACN/H2O ((2.0 ( 0.1) ꢀ 10-3 M-1 s-1),21 and is
in good agreement with other reported values.3,20,22
ꢀ
Switzerland, 2005. Accessed February 27, 2010. (b) Najera, J. A.; Koutznetsov,
htm. Accessed February 27, 2010.
(16) Chanda, A.; Khetan, S. K.; Banerjee, D.; Ghosh, A.; Collins, T. J.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 12058–12059.
(17) Cox, J. R.; Ramsay, O. B. Chem. Rev. 1964, 64, 317–352.
(18) Wu, T.; Jans, U. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2006, 40, 784–790.
(19) (a) Kirby, A. J.; Younas, M. J. Chem. Soc. B 1970, 1165–1172.
(b) Khan, S. A.; Kirby, A. J. J. Chem. Soc. B 1970, 1172–1182.
(20) Greenhalgh, R.; Dhawan, K. L.; Weinberger, P. J. Agric. Food
Chem. 1980, 28, 102–105.
(25) Han, X.; Balakrishnan, V. K.; vanLoon, G. W.; Buncel, E. Langmuir
2006, 22, 9009–9017.
(26) (a) Walling, C. Acc. Chem. Res. 1975, 8, 125–131. (b) Chan, K. H.;
Chu, W. Chemosphere 2003, 51, 305–311.
ꢀ
(21) Vico, R. V.; Bujan, E. I.; de Rossi, R. H. J. Phys. Org. Chem. 2002,
15, 858–862.
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(27) Vico, R. V.; de Rossi, R. H.; Bujan, E. I. J. Phys. Org. Chem. 2009,
(22) Omakor, J. E.; Onyido, I.; vanLoon, G. W.; Buncel, E. J. Chem. Soc.,
Perkin Trans. 2 2001, 324–330.
(23) Onyido, I.; Omakor, J. E.; vanLoon, G. W.; Buncel, E. Arkivoc,
2001, Part (xii), 134-152.
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(28) The conversion of 1 into products is much slower than predicted by
the observed rate constant in dilute solutions. This is due to the fact that
under the conditions of the NMR experiments not all the reactant is in
solution. Besides, at this high concentration it is likely that the hydrophobic
Fenitrothion is aggregated.
3428 J. Org. Chem. Vol. 75, No. 10, 2010