Dichlorvos degradation studied by 31P-NMR

Abstract

We studied the hydrolysis and TiO2 photocatalysis of the pesticide dichlorvos at pH 2.6–9 using phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR). We found that the hydrolysis of dichlorvos led to the formation of dimethyl phosphate at pH 5.6–9. On the other hand, TiO2 photocatalysis decomposed dichlorvos into dimethyl phosphate, which further reacted to form monomethyl phosphate at pH 2.6 and 9. Monomethylphosphate was hydrolysed into phosphate at pH 2.6. 31P NMR is therefore a promising tool to study the degradation of organophosphorus pesticides.