Quantitative determination of glufosinate in biological samples by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection after p-nitrobenzoyl derivatization.
We have established a new HPLC method for derivatizing and quantifying glufosinate (GLUF) in human serum and urine using p-nitrobenzoyl chloride (PNBC). The p-nitrobenzoyl derivative of GLUF (PNB-GLUF) was produced quantitatively over 10 min at room temperature. PNB-GLUF possesses the property of ultraviolet (UV) light absorption with a lambda(max) of 272.8 nm, and was isolated from biological specimens by reversed-phase chromatography using Inertsil Ph-3. In experiments at a UV wavelength of 273 nm, GLUF has a quantitative detection limit of 0.005 microg/ml, and when it was added to both serum and urine to yield concentrations of 0.1-1000 microg/ml, its recovery rate was quite satisfactory: at least 93.8% in all cases. Further, the measured amounts of GLUF in 23 serum samples from patients intoxicated by ingestion of GLUF compared favorably with those obtained by fluorescence derivatization-HPLC using 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (R=0.998). This technique of analysis is, in addition, applicable for Glyphosat, which possesses a chemical structure resembling that of GLUF, and it will be of great use in the determination of these two compounds.
Delayed and severe toxicities of a herbicide containing glufosinate and a surfactant.
We report a case of a 59-y-old woman who ingested a herbicide containing glufosinate. Though suffering from severe toxicity of this herbicide, she did not develop convulsions, which experimentally occurs in rats treated with glufosinate. The mechanisms of convulsions are not clear. Several clinical findings in poisoning by this herbicide are suspected to be caused by the surfactant components.
Suppressed Light Emission of the Reaction Zone in Detonation
THE detonation of high explosives in water can be photographed with an open camera and a flash light as the explosive gases do not emit light. The method has been used1 to investigate the spread of shock waves and explosive gases, and to investigate the initiation by shock waves2. We have found that it can be used also in certain gases such as butane and propane. The method is not suitable, on the other hand, for explosives with two levels of detonation velocity in the case of low velocity. A great part of the reaction then occurs after the reaction zone has passed and the expanding explosive gases are very luminous even in water.