ACEPHATE 338 ACEPHATE 338 OCH3 CH3S P NH O C CH3 O ISO common name Chemical name Empirical formula RMM m.p. v.p. Solubility Description Stability Formulations Acephate O,S-Dimethylacetylphosphoramidothioate (IUPAC); N-[methoxy(methylthio)phosphinoyl]acetamide (CA; 30560-19-1) C4H10NO3PS 183.2 88 - 90 °C 2.3 × 10-4 Pa at 24 °C In water: 790 g/l at 20 °C; acetone: 151 g/l; ethanol: more than 100 g/l; ethyl acetate: 35 g/l: benzene: 16 g/l; hexane: 0.1 g/l, all at 20 °C Colourless crystals Relatively stable to hydrolysis Soluble powders 5 ACEPHATE 338 ACEPHATE TECHNICAL * 338/TC/(M)/1 Sampling. Take at least 500 ml. 2 Identity tests 2.1 GLC. Use the GLC method below. The relative retention time of acephate with respect to the internal standard in the sample solution should not deviate by more than 1% from that of the calibration solution. 2.2 Infrared. Prepare potassium bromide discs from the sample and from pure acephate using 1.5 mg of compound and 300 mg KBr. Scan the discs from 4000 to 600 cm-1. The spectrum obtained from the sample should not differ significantly from that of the standard. 3 Acephate OUTLINE OF METHOD Acephate is dissolved in dichloromethane containing diisobutyl phthalate as internal standard, separated by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection, and quantitated using peak area ratios. REAGENTS Dichloromethane Acephate standard of known purity; purity better than 990 g/kg (available through Tomen Agro, Inc., 100 First St., San Francisco, CA 94105, USA). Diisobutyl phthalate Internal standard solution. Dissolve 1.2 ± 0.1 g diisobutyl phthalate (1.2 ± 0.1 g) into dichloromethane (4 l). Store at room temperature. Calibration solution. Weigh (to the nearest 0.1 mg) acephate of known purity (100 mg, s mg) into a volumetric flask (100 ml). Dilute to volume with internal standard solution, close the flask with the cap and shake until the contents are dissolved. Prepare fresh just before analysis. APPARATUS Gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionisation detector Column glass, 500 × 2 (i.d.) mm, packed with 10 % trifluorpropyl methyl silicone on 100 - 120 mesh inert diatomite (SP-2401 or equivalent). Condition freshly prepared columns 24 h at 250 °C with a nitrogen flow of 30 ml/min. It is critical that the column specified is used. The 10 % stationary phase loading is important for obtaining optimum performance of the method. * Provisional AOAC- CIPAC method 1995. 6 ACEPHATE 338 Electronic integrator or data system Microsyringe 10 µl Syringe 5 ml with Luer slip tips; disposable Syringe filter 25 mm, 0.45 µm porosity; disposable PROCEDURE (a) Operating conditions (typical): Oven temperature 155 °C Injector temperature 170 °C Detector temperature 250 °C Gas flow rates Nitrogen (carrier) 30 ml/min. Hydrogen ) as specified for the detector Air ) Retention time acephate: 2 to 4 min Adjust the flow rate or the column temperature to maintain 2-4 min retention time for acephate. (b) Preparation of sample. Weigh (to the nearest 0.1 mg) enough sample to contain about 100 mg acephate (w mg) into a volumetric flask (100 ml). Dilute to volume with internal standard solution, close the flask with the cap and shake until the contents are dissolved. (c) Determination. Adjust the operating parameters of the gas chromatograph, so that acephate and diisobutyl phthalate elute as close as possible, still maintaining clear baseline separation. Unacceptable resolution between analytes is most likely caused by the analytical column. If baseline separation of acephate and diisobutyl phthalate cannot be obtained, replace the GC column. Make repetitive injections of calibration solution onto the GC column until the peak area ratios (i.e. diisobutyl phthalate/acephate) of sequential injections are within 2%. Make duplicate injections of the sample solution. Peak area ratios of sample solution injections should agree within 2%. Otherwise, repeat the analysis starting with the injection of the calibration solution. Re-inject the calibration solution. Peak area ratios of the calibration solution injections immediately before and after the sample solution injections should agree within 2%. Otherwise, repeat the analysis sequence starting with injection of acephate standard solution. Minimise the loss of dichloromethane from the sample solution by replacing the cap on the sample vial immediately after removing the aliquot of the sample. 7 ACEPHATE 338 Average the two peak area ratios (diisobutyl phthalate/acephate) of the sample solution injections (R) and also the two peak area ratios (R’) of the calibration solution injections obtained immediately before and after sample injections. (d) Calculation Content of acephate = R ×s × P 1g/kg R′ × w where: R = average peak area ratio of internal standard to acephate in the sample solution R’ = average peak area ratio of internal standard to acephate in the calibration solution s = mass of acephate in the calibration solution (mg) w = mass of sample taken (mg) P = purity of acephate reference substance (g/kg) Reproducibility R = 29 g/kg at 998 g/kg active ingredient content 68 g/kg at 964 g/kg active ingredient content 57 g/kg at 960 g/kg active ingredient content ACEPHATE SOLUBLE POWDERS * 338/SL/(M)/1 Sampling. Take at least 500 g. 2 Identity tests 2.1 GLC. As for acephate technical 338/TC/(M)/2.1. 2.2 Infrared. Extract a suitable portion of the sample with ethyl acetate, dry the solution with anhydrous sodium sulphate and filter. Evaporate the solvent with a stream of clean, dry air and continue as for acephate technical 338/TC/(M)/2.2. 3 Acephate. As for acephate technical 338/TC/(M)/3, except: Preparation of sample. Remove insoluble inert material from acephate formulated product prior to analysis as follows: (Inert material may clog * Provisional AOAC- CIPAC method 1995. 8 ACEPHATE 338 injection syringes used by manual or automatic samplers.) Weigh (to the nearest 0.1 mg) enough sample to contain 100 mg of acephate into a volumetric flask (100 ml). Dilute to volume with internal standard solution. Close the flask with cap and shake for 30 s to ensure complete solution of acephate in dichloromethane. Before analysis, filter an aliquot of the sample solution through a syringe filter as follows: using a Luer tip syringe (5 ml) transfer an aliquot of sample to a glass vial (20 ml), attach a 0.45 µm syringe filter, and expel a portion into the autosampler or another vial (20 ml). To prevent loss of dichloromethane from the sample, close the flasks or the autosampler vials immediately after adding diisobutyl phthalate internal standard solution. Continue as for acephate technical 338/TC/(M)/3(b). Reproducibility R = 43 g/kg at 707 g/kg active ingredient content 27 g/kg at 723 g/kg active ingredient content 56 g/kg at 740 g/kg active ingredient content 9