Trimethacarb is an insecticide and animal repellent. It is moderately soluble in water, is quite volatile and there is also a slight risk of leaching to groundwater. It is not generally persistent in soil systems. It may degrade quickly via hydrolysis in aquatic systems. It is moderately toxic to mammals but would not be expected to bioaccumulate. It is an acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor and a neurotoxin. It shows a moderate to high level of toxicity to most aquatic species.
Trimethacarb is an insecticide with primarily stomach action. It is
mainly used to control corn root worm larvae in maize but it also controls
a wide range of insect and mollusc pests. Trimethacarb acts as a bird and
mammal repellent.
2,3,5-Trimethacarb is a major constituent in landrin insecticide.
ChEBI: 2,3,5-trimethylphenyl methylcarbamate is a carbamate ester that consists of 2,3,5-trimethylphenol carrying an O-(N-methylcarbamoyl) group. One of two constituents of trimethacarb. It has a role as an agrochemical and an insecticide. It is functionally related to a 2,3,5-trimethylphenol.
The commercial production of trimethacarb involves synthesising two positional isomers, 3,4,5-trimethylphenyl methylcarbamate and 2,3,5-trimethylphenyl methylcarbamate, through a carbamoylation reaction. This process typically starts with the corresponding trimethylphenols, which are reacted with methyl isocyanate or methylcarbamoyl chloride under controlled conditions to form the methylcarbamate esters. The reaction yields a mixture of the two isomers, with the 3,4,5-isomer predominating. This mixture is then purified and formulated for use.
Mainly stomach action but has some contact effects, Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibitor.
The metabolic pathways of trimethacarb in plants, mammals and insects
involve mainly oxidation of N-methyl or ring-methyl substituents and
conjugation. Some hydroxylation of the phenyl ring and ester hydrolysis
occurs. The metabolism of trimethacarb was reviewed by Fukuto (1972),
Kuhr and Dorough (1976) and by Schlagbauer and Schlagbauer (1972).
Trimethacarb is hydrolysed by strong acids and alkalis but aqueous solutions
are stable to light (PM). Trimethacarb was applied to bean leaves
and exposed to natural sunlight for 4 days. Both isomers were
decomposed more rapidly when exposed to sunlight compared with
normal light in the laboratory. The compounds were almost completely
decomposed. Major photoproducts resulted from hydroxylation of
methyl substituents of the phenyl ring (2 and 3) and of the N-methyl
group (5 and 6) (see Schemes 1 and 2). There were few products of
hydrolysis (Slade and Casida, 1970; Kuhr and Dorough, 1976).
Insecticide; Molluscicide
