Uses
Flocoumafen is a second generation anticoagulant rodenticide. Flocoumafen is extremely effective against strains of pest rodents resistant to conventional anticoagulants. Flocoumafen is highly toxic and is used strictly in sewers and indoors in some places such as UK.
Definition
ChEBI: Flocoumafen is a ring assembly, a member of naphthalenes and a member of benzenes.
Metabolic pathway
Flocoumafen exists as cis and trans isomers (Scheme 1). The tetralin ring
adopts its most stable conformation in each case and the two forms have
very similar shapes. Both are active rodenticides. The fate of flocoumafen
in soils and plants has not been studied in detail because the compound is
usually used as a pelleted bait or in a wax block. This limits its dissipation
in the environment. Studies in animals and birds have been conducted
as part of the assessment of safety and to investigate mode of action.
Metabolism is slow in the rat and rapid in Japanese quail but this difference
should be interpreted with care because of the 100-fold difference
in dose used (see also Overview).
Degradation
Flocoumafen is a stable compound; no detectable degradation occurs at
50 °C at pH 7-9 over 4 weeks.
