Usefulness of Fluorescent Probe Prodan To Gain Insight into the Polarity of Plant Cuticles.

Plant cuticle is a complex mixture of hydrophobic components that controls the uptake of pesticides by plants. Although the transport of lipophilic molecules across the cuticle has been intensively studied, development of tools to measure the cuticle polarity has received little attention. We developed a rapid and simple analytical method to evaluate the polarity of cuticles in situ.

Phototransformation of azoxystrobin fungicide in organic solvents. Photoisomerization vs. photodegradation.

Azoxystrobin is a systemic fungicide that has a tendency to accumulate at the surface of crop leaves or inside their cuticle where it undergoes photodegradation. Its photochemistry was investigated in n-heptane and isopropanol to mimic the polarity of wax leaves. Using analytical and kinetic data, we demonstrate that azoxystrobin (isomer E) undergoes efficient photoisomerization into the isomer Z with a quantum yield of 0.