Herbicide safeners are

organic compounds In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

used to enhance the effectiveness of herbicides, to make them "safer". They minimize the effect of the herbicide on crop plants, thereby improving selectivity between

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropo ...

plants vs.

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

species being targeted by the herbicide. One way that they function is by enhancing the expression of protective enzymes in the crop plant. These protective enzymes might include

cytochrome P450 Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are a superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor that functions as monooxygenases. In mammals, these proteins oxidize steroids, fatty acids, and xenobiotics, and are important for the clearance of various compo ...

. Herbicide safeners can be used to pretreat crop seeds prior to planting, or they can be sprayed on plants as a mixture with the herbicide.

Inventory

190px, Flurazole is a safener applied to sorghum. After the discovery of the safener properties of

naphthalic anhydride 1,8-Naphthalic anhydride is an organic compound with the formula C10H6(C2O3). It is one of three isomers of naphthalic anhydride, the other two being the 1,2- and the 2,3-derivatives. The 1,8-isomer is prepared by aerobic oxidation of acenaphthe ...

, additional safeners were reported. They are associated with particular crops, such as benoxacor for maize and flurazole for

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family ( Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many ot ...

. Approximately 20 safeners were in use in 2023. The inventory: *benoxacor *BPCMS *cloquintocet *cyometrinil *cyprosulfamide * dichlormid *dicyclonon *dietholate *fenchlorazole *fenclorim *flurazole *fluxofenim *furilazole *isoxadifen *jiecaowan *jiecaoxi *mefenpyr *mephenate *metcamifen *

*oxabetrinil These safeners have been classified according to structural motifs.

References

Herbicides {{chem-stub

Inventory

Further reading

References