SEPARATION OF SULFONYLUREA METABOLITES IN WATER BY CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

The potential of capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the separation and detection of the metabolites of nine sulfonylurea herbicides in aqueous solution was evaluated. A relationship between the structure of the sulfonylureas tested and the metabolites formed was found: the non-o-benzene-substituted sulfonylurea rimsulfuron gave only one metabolite, whereas the other eight, o-benzene-substituted, sulfonylureas gave 4-6 metabolites. CE was confirmed to be a very efficient separation technique, suitable for the determination of sulfonylurea herbicides and their metabolites formed during hydrolysis.