Study of the hydrolysis of a sulfonylurea herbicide using liquid chromatography with diode array detection and mass spectrometry by three-way multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares

This research is focused on the development of a novel, automated chemometric method for obtaining relevant chemical information from time-course measurements of an evolving chemical system. This paper describes an investigation of the hydrolysis of Ally, which is a sulfonylurea herbicide. The hydrolysis of this compound is observed at different pHs and temperatures by reversed-phase liquid chromatography using a diode array detector. The data are analyzed using a three-way, multivariate curve resolution technique. Of special interest was the application of a closure constraint in the kinetic dimension followed by the determination of the rate constants for each step of the pathway by using a differential equation solver and nonlinear fitting of the data.