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Concept
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid
Summary
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula C8H6Cl2O3 which is usually referred to by its ISO common name 2,4-D. It is a systemic herbicide which kills most broadleaf weeds by causing uncontrolled growth in them but most grasses such as cereals, lawn turf, and grassland are relatively unaffected.
2,4-D is one of the oldest and most widely available herbicides and defoliants in the world, having been commercially available since 1945, and is now produced by many chemical companies since the patent on it has long since expired. It can be found in numerous commercial lawn herbicide mixtures, and is widely used as a weedkiller on cereal crops, pastures, and orchards. Over 1,500 herbicide products contain 2,4-D as an active ingredient.
List of multiple discoveries
The discovery of 2,4-D as well as the similar hormone herbicides 2,4,5-T, and MCPA occurred during World War II and was a case of multiple discovery by four groups working independently under wartime secrecy in the United Kingdom and the United States: William G. Templeman and associates at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in the UK; Philip S. Nutman and associates at Rothamsted Research in the UK; Franklin D. Jones and associates at the American Chemical Paint Company; and Ezra Kraus, John W. Mitchell, and associates at the University of Chicago and the United States Department of Agriculture. All four groups were subject to wartime secrecy laws and did not follow the usual procedures of publication and patent disclosure. In December 1942, following a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture the Rothamsted and ICI workers pooled resources and Nutman moved to Jealott's Hill to join the ICI effort. The first scientific publication describing the 2,4-D structure and plant growth regulating activity was by Percy W. Zimmerman and Albert E. Hitchcock at the Boyce Thompson Institute, who were not the original inventors. The precise sequence of early 2,4-D discovery events and publications has been discussed.
Official source
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