Variety of 2,4-D metabolic pathways in plants; its significance in developing analytical methods for herbicides residues.

2,4-D in plants very rapidly undergoes various transformations and its predominant metabolic pathways and rates vary with different plant species. In bean and soybean plants major 2,4-D metabolites are 4-O-beta-D-glucosides of 4-hydroxy-2,5-dichloro- and 4-hydroxy-2,3-dichloro-phenoxy-acetic acids; in addition, considerable amounts of N-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetyl)-L-aspartic and N-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetyl)-L-glutamic acids are accumulating in them. Among 2,4-D metabolites in cereals there prevailed 1-O-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetyl)-beta-D-glucose while the glycoside of 2,4-dichlorophenol prevailed in strawberry plants.