Enantioselective Degradation of Chiral Insecticide Dinotefuran in Greenhouse Cucumber and Soil

The enantioselective degradation behavior of the chiral insecticide dinotefuran in cucumber and soil was investigated under greenhouse conditions based on the method established with a normal-phase high-performance chromatography (HPLC) on a ChromegaChiral CCA column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm, ES Industries). The linearity range, matrix effect, precision, and accuracy of the method were evaluated and the method was then successfully applied for the enantioselective analysis of dinotefuran in cucumber and soil. Significant enantioselectivity of degradation was observed in soil according to the results. The (+)-dinotefuran was more persistent in soil with half-life of 21.7 d, which is much longer than that of (-)-dinotefuran (16.5 d). In cucumber, the (-)-dinotefuran also tended to be preferentially degraded both in foliar and douche treatment. However, the statistical analysis indicated the enantioselectivity of degradation in cucumber was not significant. The research provides the first report concerning the enantioselective degradation of dinotefuran enantiomers and the results can be used for understanding the insect-controlling effect and food safety evaluation.