LIQUID PESTICIDAL FORMULATIONS

Abstract: The invention provides a liquid pesticidal formulation which comprises at least one pesticidal compound, one or more pesticidally acceptable carriers and as a crystallisation inhibitor a) a polyhydroxylated aromatic compound, b) a monohydroxylated aromatic compound, in which the aromatic ring is substituted by halo, alkoxy, nitro, carboxy, cyano or by optionally substituted phenyl in a position ortho to the hydroxy, c) an amino substituted aromatic compound, or d) an aliphatic carboxylic acid of chain length 1 to 8 carbon atoms, comprising one to three carboxy groups, and optionally substituted by hydroxy.

Description: Title: Liquid Pesticidal Formulations Field of the invention This invention relates to novel formulations of pesticides. Pesticides are commonly formulated as emulsifiable concentrates, in which the active ingredient is dissolved in an organic solvent, such as xylene and mixed with various emulsifying and wetting agents, whereby the resulting concentrate, on dilution with water, forms an emulsion of the pesticide in water which can then be sprayed, e.g. onto crops. It is now becoming increasingly desirable for environmental, safety and/or cost reasons, that part at least of the organic solvent in such formulations is replaced by water. One way of achieving this would be to have a concentrate comprising the pesticide in a reduced amount of water-immiscible solvent, or even no solvent at all, which is emulsified in water. However, when trying to form concentrates of this type, some pesticides, especially those which are low-melting solids, tend to crystallise on standing and such formulations cannot be re-constituted to give a product of uniform concentration. Thus even if the farmer can remove crystals which would otherwise rapidly clog up spraying apparatus, he is left with a formulation which cannot be applied uniformly to his crop and is therefore wholly unacceptable. This problem is particularly acute with the fungicide having the common name prochloraz, which is N-propyl- N-[2-(2 ,4,6-trichlorophenoxy)ethyl]imidazole- 1-carboxamide. In EP 357 559, there are disclosed aqueous formulations of pesticides which have a very low solubility in water. The formulation consists of an aqueous emulsion and contains particular phenols in order to stabilise the emulsion and prevent crystallisation of the pesticide. We have now found that certain other aromatic compounds and also carboxylic acids are particlarly valuable in inhibiting the crystallisation of a pesticide from a liquid formulation. Thus, according to the invention, there is provided a liquid pesticidal formulation which comprises a pesticidal compound, one or more pesticidally acceptable carriers and as a crystallisation inhibitor (a) a polyhydroxylated aromatic compound, (b) a monohydroxylated aromatic compound, in which the aromatic ring is substituted by halo, alkoxy, nitro, carboxy, cyano or by optionally substituted phenyl in a position ortho to the hydroxy, (c) an amino substituted aromatic compound, or (d) an aliphatic carboxylic acid of chain length 1 to 8 carbon atoms, comprising one to three carboxy groups, and optionally substituted by hydroxy, and in which the aromatic ring of said aromatic compounds under (a) , (b) and (c) is optionally further substituted. The invention is particularly applicable to oil in water emulsion formulations which also comprise one or more surfactants and/or emulsion stabilisers. The invention can also be applied to other formulation types, such as icroemulsions and emulsifiable concentrates. The invention also applies to co-formulations. This is particularly applicable to formulations containing two or more pesticidal compounds, in which case, at least one of the pesticidal compounds may be present as a fine particulate solid. For example an oil in water emulsion of one or more pesticides may be combined with a suspension concentrate of a solid compound suspended in an aqueous medium to give a formulation known as a suspoemulsion. The pesticidal compound in the formulation of the invention is generally a low-melting compound, e.g. having a melting point of -10 to +60°C. The invention is particularly applicable to formulating compounds containing a carbonyl group, e.g. prochloraz. If desired the compositions can include two or more pesticides, e.g. other triazole fungicides such as cyproconazole or fluquinconazole, or morpholine fungicides such as fenpropimorph or fenpropidin. A wide range of crystallisation inhibitors may be suitable. Of the type (a) compounds, these are generally polyhydroxylated benzenes, and preferably a benzene containing two or three hydroxy groups and which may contain other substituents, particularly lower alkyl groups. Examples of suitable compounds include catechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone, optionally substituted by one or more C^-alkyl groups (e.g. 4-tert.-butylcatechol or tert. -butyl-hydroquinone) and also pyrogallol. Type (b) compounds are preferably phenols. Halogen substituents are generally chloro. Alkoxy groups are usually of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, e.g. methoxy. Optional substituents include optionally substituted lower alkyl, e.g. of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, especially methyl or t-butyl, carboxy and optionally substituted phenyl. Examples of preferred compounds of this type include 3-methyl- 4-nitrophenol and 2- and 3-ter .-butylhydroxyanisole. The type (c) compound is preferably aniline, optionally substituted e.g. by halo especially chloro, or lower alkyl, e.g. of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, especially methyl. Examples of preferred compounds of this type include 2 , 3-dimethylaniline and 2-chloroaniline. Surfactants may be any of those commonly used in the art and are preferably nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants or a blend of nonionic and anionic surfactants. Nonionic surfactants include for example, ethoxylated alkylphenols, such as optionally terminally blocked alk lphenol ethoxylates; ethoxylated aliphatic alcohols; ethoxylated amines; ethoxylated fatty acids and fatty acid esters; ethoxylated alkylola ides; block polymers/ copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide; alkylolamides and ethoxylated/propoxylated alkyl phenols or fatty alcohols. Anionic compounds include for example, sulphonates such as alkylaryl sulphonates or petroleum sulphonates; sulphates such as alcohol sulphates or other sulphates; phosphate esters; or sulphosuccinates. Emulsion stabilisers are well known and are generally polymeric products e.g. polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl acetate copolymers. Generally, the formulation also includes a hydrocarbon solvent. Suitable solvents include for example aromatic hydrocarbons such as alkylbenzenes, e.g. xylene, trimethylbenzenes, methylethylbenzenes, dimethylethyl- benzenes, diethylbenzenes, tetramethylbenzenes, pentamethylbenzenes, naphthalene and various methylnaphthalenes and mixtures thereof. If desired, other conventional formulation additives can be included, such as antifreeze e.g. ethylene or propylene glycol. The composition usually comprises from 30-70%, preferably 40-50%, weight by volume of pesticidal compound; from 5-20% weight by volume of crystallisation inhibitor; from 0-15%, preferably 5-15%, weight by volume of surfactant; 0-10% weight by volume antifreeze; 0-10% weight by volume of emulsion stabiliser; 0-45%, preferably 5-30%, weight by volume of hydrocarbon solvent and 20-40% weight by volume water. The invention is illustrated in the following examples. Example 1 Oil in water emulsion formulations were prepared by mixing the following ingredients: % w/v prochloraz Mowiol 3-83 1 Genapol C100 2 Hoe-S-3510 3 Proxel XL2 4 Propylene glycol 4-methylcatechol Solvesso 200 5 water 1 = polyvinyl alcohol 2 = coconut fatty alcohol/ethylene oxide condensate 3 = alkoxyethylene oxide/propylene oxide condensate 4 = 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one (preservative) 5 = methylnaphthalene fraction Samples were stored at various temperatures and the stability of the formulation observed, particularly for crystal formation. To encourage crystal formation, samples were seeded with crystals of prochloraz. After 2 weeks at -5°, 4°C and 8°C, the formulations were examined for crystallisation, by filtering through a 150 micron sieve. Formulation A gave acceptable prochloraz residue levels of 0.015, 0.018 and 0% w/w, whilst formulation B gave unacceptable prochloraz residue levels of 3.0, 0.17 and 0.016% w/w respectively. Even after this short period, it can be seen that the prochloraz crystal residues present in formulation B would clog spray equipment whilst those in formulation A would not. After 5 weeks storage, the residue levels in formulations A were unchanged whereas those in formulation B had increased further. Both formulations were physically stable, i.e. no breaking of the emulsion had occurred. Thus even though formulation B comprised more solvent than formulation A, lack of the catechol allowed extensive crystallisation of prochloraz to occur. The presence of the crystallisation inhibitor is thus essential in formulations of this type. Example 2 Formulations similar to formulation A in Example 1 were prepared in which the 4-methylcatechol was replaced by 5, 10 and 15% tert.-butylhydroquinone and the Solvesso was adjusted to 15, 10 and 5% respectively. The samples were stored at various temperatures and observed for stability of the formulation and particularly for crystal formation. Similar good inhibition of crystallisation and stability of the formulations was observed, as with the formulation A in Example 1. Example 3 Formulations similar to formulation A in Example 1 were prepared in which the 4-methylcatechol was replaced by acetic acid, citric acid and hydroquinone, respectively. Similar beneficial results were obtained. Example 4 A suspension concentrate (SC) containg fluquinconazole was prepared by mixing the following ingredients % w/v fluquinconazole 50 Polyfon H 6 2 Synperonic PE/P75 7 3 propylene glycol 10.5 Proxel XL2 0.3 xanthan gum 0.2 water to 100 6 = sodium lignosulfonate 7 = ethylene oxide/propylene oxide/ethylene oxide block copolymer This was then combined with an oil in water emulsion formulation prepared from prochloraz and fenpropidin to give a suspoe ulsion of the following composition: % w/v prochloraz fenpropidin fluquinconazole SC Mowiol 3-83 Genapol C100 Hoe-S-3510 Proxel XL2 propylene glycol t-butylhydroquinone Solvesso 200 xanthan gum water to This formulation was tested for stability in a similar manner to that described in Example 1 and compared with a similar formulation in which the t-butylhydroquinone was absent but contained 10% Solvesso 200. After 4 weeks at -5°, the formulation of the invention showed prochloraz residue levels of 0.05% w/w, whilst the formulation contining no t-butylhydroquinone gave unacceptable prochloraz residue levels of 1.4% w/w after only 2 weeks. Example 5 The fluquinconazole SC described in Example 4 was combined with an oil in water emulsion formulation prepared from prochloraz to give a suspoemulsion of the following composition: prochloraz fluquinconazole SC Mowiol 3-83 Genapol C100 Hoe-S-3510 Proxel XL2 propylene glycol t-butylhydroquinone Solvesso 200 clay thickener water to Similar good inhibition of crystallisation and stability of the formulations was observed, as with the formulation of the invention in Example 4.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A liquid pesticidal formulation which comprises at least one pesticidal compound, one or more pesticidally acceptable carriers and as a crystallisation inhibitor (a) a polyhydroxylated aromatic compound, (b) a monohydroxylated aromatic compound, in which the aromatic ring is substituted by halo, alkoxy, nitro, carboxy, cyano or by optionally substituted phenyl in a position ortho to the hydroxy, (c) an amino substituted aromatic compound, or (d) an aliphatic carboxylic acid of chain length 1 to 8 carbon atoms, comprising one to three carboxy groups, and optionally substituted by hydroxy, and in which the aromatic ring of said aromatic compounds under (a) , (b) and (c) is optionally further substituted. 2. A formulation according to claim 1 which comprises water. 3. A formulation according to claim 2 which is an oil in water emulsion formulation and comprises one or more surfactants and/or emulsion stabilisers. 4. A formulation according to claim 2 or 3 , which also includes a hydrocarbon solvent. 5. A formulation according to any one of the preceding claims, which comprises prochloraz as a pesticidal compound. 6. A formulation according to any one of the preceding claims, which comprises 30-70% weight by volume of pesticidal compound; from 5-20% weight by volume of crystallisation inhibitor; from 0-15%, weight by volume of surfactant; 0-10% weight by volume antifreeze; 0-10% weight by volume of emulsion stabiliser; 0-45%, weight by volume of hydrocarbon solvent and 20-40% weight by volume water. 7. A formulation according to claim 6 which comprises 40-50% weight by volume of pesticidal compound; 5-155 weight by volume of surfactant and 5-30% weight by volume of hydrocarbon solvent.

Inventors: FAERS MALCOLM ANDREW, KEEPING STUART ALAN, FAERS, MALCOLM, ANDREW, KEEPING, STUART, ALAN
Applicants: SCHERING AGROCHEMICALS LTD, SCHERING AGROCHEMICALS LIMITED
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A01N25
IPC codes: A01N25, A01N47