Chromatographic procedure for the determination of maloran and metabolites in soils.

Maloran, 3-(3-chloro, 4-bromophenyl)-1-methoxy-lmethylurea, is a selective herbicide nematicide used for weed control in corn. The substituted urea herbicides as a group are degraded in the soil by microbial action (3,4,7) with minimal accumulation of phytotoxic residues. Geissbuhler et al. (3) showed that cluroxuron, 3-(p­ chlorophenoxyphenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea was degraded in soil by successive demetylation to the urea followed by hydrolysis of the urea to the aniline. This mechanism of degradation was confinned by Dalton et al. (2) in their study of the disappearance of diuron,3-(3,4 dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea from cotton field soils.