Kinetic and mechanistic aspects of the direct photodegradation of atrazine, atraton, ametryn and 2‐hydroxyatrazine by 254 nm light in aqueous solution

Abstract

Abstract Atrazine ( 1 ), Atraton ( 2 ) and Ametryn ( 3 ) are photodegraded upon 254 nm irradiation, yielding 2‐OH‐atrazine ( 4 ) as a photoproduct. Dealkylation products are also generated, and 4‐ethylamino‐6‐isopropylamino‐(1,3,5)‐triazine was also found as a photoproduct of 3 . The main photoreaction is proposed to be an addition–elimination, yielding 4 , which subsequently photodegrades. The ease of photodegradation depends on the electron availability at position C‐2, the observed order of photoreactivity being 1 > 3 > 4 > 2 . Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.