Identification of prometon, deisopropylprometon, and hydroxyprometon in groundwater by high resolution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Prometon, a major soil sterilant, and its main transformation products, deisopropylprometon (N(2)-isopropyl-6-methoxy-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) and hydroxyprometon (4,6-bis(isopropylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-2-ol), were identified as the dominant triazine herbicides in groundwater samples from 51 locations in Colorado, USA, over a two-year time period. They were concentrated from water by solid phase extraction and detected using an ultrahigh pressure, liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/QTOF-MS). The transformation products, deisopropylprometon and hydroxyprometon, were confirmed using MS-MS experiments.