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Molecular properties affecting the adsorption coefficient of phenylurea herbicides

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Abstract

The adsorption of 12 pesticides of the phenylurea family was studied by batch experiments in order to determine the adsorption coefficient, K d. The study was conducted in two soils chosen for their differences in organic matter and calcite contents. K d pesticide adsorption coefficients were higher for soil S1 than for soil S2 due to the presence of a higher organic matter content and a lower calcite content in soil S1. To identify pesticide properties governing retention, 18 molecular descriptors were considered. Class-specific quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) soil sorption models using one, two, and three descriptors were developed from our experimental data using linear regressions. One of the aims of this work was to check whether QSPR models that did not include literature values of K ow were able to predict K d coefficients in satisfactory agreement with our experimental data. The influence of the level of theory in determining K ow and polarisability predictors on the predictive performance of the model was also examined by comparing quantum chemistry and empirical (QikProp) approaches. The one-descriptor model using “quantum” polarisability α was found to perform almost as well as or better than the other models.

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Acknowledgments

This research is part of the AQUAL CPER Program financed by the “Conseil Général de la Marne”, the Champagne-Ardenne Region, the French Ministry for Research and the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDER). We are grateful to the “Conseil Général de la Marne” for a grant to J.L. and the Champagne-Ardenne Region for a grant to A.B. This work was supported by both the Computational Centre and the Molecular Modelling Platform of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA). The C.R.I.H.A.N Computing Centre is acknowledged for CPU time donated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Chimie Moléculaire de Reims (ICMR, UMR CNRS 7312), Groupe Chimie de Coordination, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, BP 1039, 51687, Reims Cedex 2, France

    Alodie Blondel, Julie Langeron, Stéphanie Sayen & Emmanuel Guillon

  2. Unité de Recherches Vigne et Vin de Champagne (URVVC EA 4707), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, BP 1039, 51687, Reims Cedex 2, France

    Alodie Blondel, Julie Langeron & Michel Couderchet

  3. Institut de Chimie Moléculaire de Reims (ICMR, UMR CNRS 7312), Groupe Biomolécule, Synthèse et Mécanisme d’Action, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, BP 1039, 51687, Reims Cedex 2, France

    Eric Hénon

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  1. Alodie Blondel
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  2. Julie Langeron
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  3. Stéphanie Sayen
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Correspondence to Stéphanie Sayen or Eric Hénon.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Blondel, A., Langeron, J., Sayen, S. et al. Molecular properties affecting the adsorption coefficient of phenylurea herbicides. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 6266–6281 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1654-5

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