IDENTIFICATION OF DINOCAP IN WATER USING GC IR AND GC/MS/

The determination of Dinocap, one of the most often used acaricides an d contact fungicides, is complicated by the fact that it consists of s everal isomeric alkyl-dinitro-phenyl-crotonates. In a first step, GC/I R and GC/MS has been used to separate the mixture, to determine the ch romatographic behaviour and to fully characterize the six different is omeric compounds. The structures of additional impurities in the comme rcial preparation were shown to be the correlating phenols. An extract ion/preconcentration method has been devised based on Carbopack B, yie lding recoveries between 75 and 98%. A qualified estimation of the tot al Dinocap content of drinking water can be made by this approach for concentrations well below the limits set by the European drinking wate r regulations. The development of a complete analytical procedure base d on these results appears to be feasible.