Dinoseb

Dinoseb is a common industry name for 6-sec-butyl-2,4-dinitrophenol, a herbicide in the dinitrophenol family. It is a crystalline orange solid which does not readily dissolve in water. Dinoseb is banned as an herbicide in the EU and USA because of its toxicity. Dinoseb is a common industry name for 6-sec-butyl-2,4-dinitrophenol, a herbicide in the dinitrophenol family. It is a crystalline orange solid which does not readily dissolve in water. Dinoseb is banned as an herbicide in the EU and USA because of its toxicity. It also finds use as a polymerisation inhibitor, where it is often referred to as DNBP. It is used to prevent the thermally induced polymerisation of styrene and other unsaturated monomers when they are being purified by distillation. In 1892, dinitro-ortho-cresol (2,4-dinitro-6-methylphenol), a chemical compound closely related to dinoseb, was discovered in Germany and first used as an insecticide. It was later also used as an herbicide and also fungicide characteristics were discovered. In 1945 the ortho-methyl group was replaced by a sec-butyl group, producing dinoseb. This compound had a superior contact and stomach activity on insects and mites. Dinoseb became commercially available in 1945 and was approved for use in the United States based on safety data from Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories. On January 13, 1984 the Danish ship Dana Optima lost 80 drums of Dinoseb during their trip from North Shields (UK) to Esbjerg (DK). After four months 72 drums were found and recovered. Dinoseb was withdrawn from the market in 1986 due to an increased threat of birth defects after female field workers were exposed to the chemical. It could also cause sterility in men who were exposed to the chemical. Dinoseb is an herbicide that was once widely used for weed-control when producing crops like soybeans, vegetables, fruits and nuts, or citrus. In the present, dinoseb is banned in the EU and USA due to its high toxicity. However, dinoseb is still used in China for example; evidenced by the fact that it is found in rain- and drinking water. Nowadays there are other, safer herbicides that can be used. Dinoseb was also used as an insecticide to protect grapes. On the internet, dinoseb and other dinitrophenols are bought as weight-loss pills. It is very dangerous however, and many people have died of accidental overdose. Dinoseb is an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation. It is a weak acid that can pass through lipid membranes when it’s in the undissociated form. It uses this property to transport protons through the inner mitochondrial membrane(IMM). Protons are taken up from the intermembrane space and after transport through the IMM, they are released again in the mitochondrial matrix. Dinoseb in the dissociated form is negatively charged, which causes it to move to the intermembrane space because of the electrochemical gradient that exists across the IMM.