Gas Chromatographic Determination of Fluazifop-butyl in Formulations: Collaborative Study

A method is described for the determination of butyl 2-(4-(5-trifluoromethyl- 2-pyridinyloxy)phenoxy) propanoate in technical and formulated material by gas chromatography (GC). Samples of technical or formulated material are dissolved in methylene chloride containing dibenzyl succinate as internal standard. The solution is injected into a gas chromatograph fitted with a flame ionization detector and a 6 ft × 2 mm glass column. The column is packed with 3% OV-17 on 100–120 mesh Chromosorb WHP and is maintained at 230°C. Peak areas obtained at the retention times of the internal standard and the active ingredient are measured with an integrator. The quantity of fluazifop-butyl is determined by comparing the internal standard and active ingredient peak areas with the peak areas obtained from a calibration solution containing known amounts of internal standard and pure active ingredient. Four samples were chosen for collaboration: technical fluazifop-butyl, a 4 lb/US gal. emulsifiable concentrate, a 560 g/L oil concentrate, and a 5% granular. Fourteen collaborators carried out replicate determinations on each sample. Coefficients of variation between laboratories were 0.80 for the technical, 0.88 for the emulsifiable concentrate, 1.03 for the oil concentrate, and 2.04 for the granular. Parallel peak height determinations showed substantially higher coefficients of variation for all except the granular sample. The method has been adopted official first action.