With the aim to identify the reaction by-products, the oxidation of fo
ur sulfur-containing s-trazines (prometryne, terbutryne, ametryne and
desmetryne) by sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) has been investigated using
oxidant and herbicides initial concentrations respectively of 11 ppm
and 3 ppm. Furthermore, to study the effect of reagent concentration o
n the oxidation rate, only for prometryne, the reaction has been carri
ed out at two more oxidant and herbicide initial concentrations (ppm):
3 and 0.003, 0.011 and 0.003. Oxidation reactions were monitored by h
igh performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), while the identification
of by-products was at first carried out by HPLC-mass spectrometry (HP
LC-MS) and then confirmed by accurate mass measurements. The results i
ndicate that all the investigated triazines react in the same way. In
the experimental conditions (T = 20-degrees-C, pH = 8, reaction time =
48 h) the reaction gives rise to three identified oxidation by-produc
ts: the sulfoxide, the sulfone and the sulfone's hydrolysis product. A
s expected, the lower the reagent's concentration the slower the oxida
tion rate. Based on the obtained results, a general pathway for the ox
idation of sulfur-containing s-triazines is proposed.