Safety

RIDADR 

2781

HazardClass 

6.1(a)

PackingGroup 

II

Toxicity

A contact herbicide used as a defoliant. Its oral LD50 in rats is 231 mg/ kg and in mice is 125 mg/kg. It is a convulsant, and its herbicidal and toxic actions may be mediated by free radical reactions similar to those of paraquat. Unlike paraquat, diquat is not toxic to, and not retained in, the lung. Acute diquat poisoning causes acute hyperexcitability leading to convulsions and distension of the gastrointestinal tract.

Hazard and Precautionary Statements (GHS)

DIQUAT DIBROMIDE Chemical Properties,Usage,Production

Uses

diquat may be applied as preplanting treatments for many agronomic crops to eliminate weeds at or before planting. In addition, these herbicides may be used in established perennial crops such as alfalfa, mint, and rhubarb during the dormant cycle. Similarly, their use in vineyards, orchards, and coffee and rubber plantations, at times of crop dormancy or using directed sprays so that only the weed is contacted, are useful for total weed control measures. Diquat is also used extensively as an aquatic herbicide to control algae and submerged and floating aquatic weeds.

Preparation

Diquat is synthesized by reaction of 2,2 -bipridyl with di-n-propyl amine (1,9).