Wednesday, 16 May 2007
3rd Floor Hall (Pfahler Hall)
87

Interactions of sarcosine and AMPA with montmorillonite: Molecular mechanics calculations

Lorena Tribe, Annette Slutter, and Amanda Rennig. Penn State Berks, Reading, PA

Montmorillonite is one of the most common clays found in soils. Glyphosate is a major herbicide found in commercial products such as RoundUp®. Glyphosate enters the plants through the leaves and inhibits the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate, disrupting the process of protein synthesis for growth. Glyphosate that reaches the soil as such may be degraded due to the presence of microorganisms, producing two main compounds according to the pathway followed: sarcosine and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). Previous studies have shown that glyphosate can also enter the interlayer spaces of montmorillonite and adsorb to the interlayer surfaces through either the amino or the phosphonate moieties of the molecule. Here the interactions of sarcosine and AMPA with the interlayer surfaces of montmorillonite are studied using molecular mechanics modeling techniques to explore the possible accumulation of these compounds in the soil.

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