Metabolism of profluralin in rats. 1. Identification of metabolites.

Fluorine NMR spectroscopy has been used to identify and quantitate metabolites of profluralin appearing in the urine of rats postingestion of the herbicide. The chemical shift of the trifluoromethyl group was shown to be a useful indicator of the chemical type of metabolite, and the shifts for the classes of materials previously identified as metabolites have been determined. By use of chemical shift criteria this work provides evidence for several metabolites that have not been recognized in previous work; some of these remain incompletely characterized. Though the number and types of metabolites detected in the urine were consistent from animal to animal, the time course for appearance of metabolites was found to be animal dependent.