Agricultural chemicals decrease crop damage resulting in a food supply that is plentiful and of high quality. In the agricultural chemicals industry the analytical quality control of pesticide products is important to ensure that a consistent and effective product reaches the farm. The detection, characterization and quantitation of the active ingredient/s and all other components in the formulation including impurities and degradation products is necessary to support product development and product registration. The addition of a mass detector, in conjunction with UV detection, can increase the specificity and selectivity of methods used during analytical testing to provide additional information about a sample during a single analysis. UV and mass detection were combined to provide a more thorough profile of a commercially available pesticide formulation. The formulated product contained the triazole fungicide, propiconazole. The formulation sample was extracted with 50:50 ACN:H2O, sonicated and filtered through a 0.2 �m PVDF filter in preparation for analysis. Ultra performance liquid chromatographic separations were carried out at a flow-rate of 0.6 mL/min. A reverse phase gradient using 10 mM ammonium formate as the aqueous mobile phase and acetonitrile as the organic modifier was used to separate the formulation components. The column, an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 2.1 x 150 mm, 1.7 �m was maintained at 50 0C. Detection was by photodiode array (PDA) and QDa mass detection. Using UV and mass detection minor formulation components were identified as having similar optical and structural properties to propiconazole, the active ingredient. Inert formulation components not seen in the UV were readily detected by the mass detector. ACQUITY QDa mass detection, a user friendly, affordable, complementary analytical detection technique, enhances confidence in compound detection and identification.

Comprehensive sample profiling of pesticide formulations using UV and cost effective mass detection for component identification

247th National Meeting (2014)

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