Pathways for the hydrolysis of phorate: Product studies by 31P NMR and GC-MS

Abstract

A new intramolecular mechanism is proposed for the hydrolysis of phorate. 31P NMR was used to study the formation of P-containing products of phorate hydrolysis in situ. When hydrolysis was followed by 31P NMR, a dominant P-containing product was found and was identified to be diethyl dithiophosphate using methylation and GC-MS. Combining the data from phorate hydrolysis at three different temperatures, thermodynamic parameters were calculated. The contributions of various possible pathways to phorate hydrolysis are discussed.