EMULSIFIABLE OR SELF-EMULSIFYING CYANAMIDE-CONTAINING COMPOSITION

Abstract

The present invention relates to an emulsifiable or self-emulsifying liquid composition for plant growth control which contains cyanamide.

Claims

1.-12. (canceled)

13. An emulsifiable or self-emulsifying liquid composition for regulating plant growth, comprising: a) 5 to 50 wt. % cyanamide; b) 10 to 95 wt. % of a mixture of at least one oil and at least one organic solvent that is miscible with water; and, c) 0.1 to 10 wt. % of at least one emulsifier, wherein the cyanamide is present in the composition in dissolved form.

14. The composition of claim 13, wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of water-soluble alcohols, ketones, nitriles and amides, and mixtures thereof.

15. The composition of claim 13, wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethanol, isopropanol, n-propanol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, acetonitrile, propionitrile, formamide, dimethylformamide and N-methyl pyrrilidone, and mixtures thereof.

16. The composition of claim 13, wherein the composition contains less than 5 wt. % water.

17. The composition of claim 13, wherein the composition contains less than 3 wt. % water.

18. The composition of claim 13, wherein the oil is selected from the group consisting of mineral oil, paraffin oil, white oil, saturated linear or branched aliphatic hydrocarbons, esters of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having monovalent, divalent or trivalent C1 to C5 alcohols and ethers of fatty alcohols having C1 to C5 alcohols, and mixtures thereof

19. The composition of claim 13, wherein the mixture contains the organic solvent and the oil in a ratio range of organic solvent to oil of from 4:1 to 1:4.

20. The composition of claim 13, wherein the mixture contains the organic solvent and the oil in a ratio range of organic solvent to oil of from 2:1 to 1:2.

21. The composition of claim 13, wherein the emulsifier is an ionic, a non-ionic or a zwitterionic emulsifier.

22. The composition of claim 13, wherein the emulsifier is selected from the group consisting of oil-in-water emulsifiers (O/W emulsifier), water-in-oil emulsifiers (W/O emulsifier), oil-in-water-in-oil emulsifiers (O/W/O emulsifier) and water-in-oil-in-water emulsifiers (W/O/W emulsifier).

23. The composition of claim 13, further comprising at least one additional additive.

24. The composition of claim 23 wherein the additional additive is selected from the group consisting of viscosity modifiers, stabilisers, dyes and bitter principles.

25. The composition of claim 13, wherein the composition is a self-emulsifying composition.

26. The composition of claim 13, wherein the composition has a viscosity of less than 1 Pa*s.

27. The composition of claim 25, wherein the composition has a viscosity of less than 1 Pa*s.

28. An emulsion for regulating plant growth comprising water and the composition of claim 13.

Description

EXAMPLES

Example 1

Production of the Formulation According to the Invention

[0062] 352 g of refined rapeseed oil methyl ester was placed in a stirred tank. 376 g of ethanol (waterless, denatured with approx. 1% petroleum ether) and 25 g Marlosol TA3050 (an iso-C13 ethoxylate, manufactured by Sasol AG, Marl) were introduced. Then 247 g of solid cyanamide (cyanamide F1000, manufactured by AlzChem AG) was added to the mixture and stirred for 1 hour with gentle heating at 20 C. This resulted in 1000 g of a clear, yellowish solution. A formulation of this type is usually referred to as an emulsion concentrate (EC).

[0063] Marlosol TA3040 can be replaced with the technically equivalent products Lutensol TO5 (manufactured by BASF) or TEGO Alkanol TD6 (manufactured by Evonik-Goldschmidt) with an identical result.

Example 2

Testing of the Stability of the Formulation According to the Invention

[0064] 100 g of the formulation from example 1 was placed into a PE flask and stored at 60 C. in a heating cabinet. The concentration of cyanamide and the concentration of the resulting dimer dicyandiamide were tracked analytically. A commercially available nominally 50% aqueous cyanamide formulation (Dormex, manufactured by Alzchem AG) and an aqueous cyanamide solution (produced by mixing 50 g of Dormex and 50 g of demineralised water) diluted to 25% were used as a comparison. The results of the stability test were as follows:

TABLE-US-00001 Formulation from example 1 50% Dormex Dormex diluted to 25% Initial values 25.8% cyanamide 51.1% cyanamide 25.9% cyanamide at the start of 0.05% dicyandiamide 0.8% dicyandiamide 0.49% dicyandiamide heated storage After 48 hours 25.1% cyanamide 49.8% cyanamide 25.1% cyanamide at 60 C. 0.42% dicyandiamide 2.1% dicyandiamide 0.99% dicyandiamide corresponds to a relative corresponds to a relative corresponds to a relative loss of active ingredient loss of active ingredient loss of active ingredient of 2.7% of 2.5% of 3.1% After 96 hours 23.8% cyanamide 46.0% cyanamide 22.7% cyanamide at 60 C. 1.45% dicyandiamide 6.0% dicyandiamide 3.51% dicyandiamide corresponds to a relative corresponds to a relative corresponds to a relative loss of active ingredient loss of active ingredient loss of active ingredient of 7.8% of 10.0% of 12.3%

[0065] From experience, this accelerated storage test at 60 C. simulates the typical storage stability at room temperature over a time period of 1 to 2 years. The results show that the relative loss of active ingredient (the decrease in cyanamide based on the starting cyanamide concentration) in the EC formulation according to the invention is improved compared with the established Dormex solution, particularly for longer storage times. As the comparative tests using the 25% aqueous solution show, this effect is not attributable to the lower cyanamide concentration, but to the non-aqueous formulation that can thus be stored in an improved manner.

Example 3a

Production of an Application Solution

[0066] 98 g tap water was placed in a stirred tank, and 2.0 g of the solution according to the invention from example 1 (of the EC concentrate) was added thereto. Within a few seconds, an evenly cloudy oil-in-water emulsion formed, the cyanamide proportion mainly transitioning into the water phase.

Example 3b

Production of a Comparative Application Solution

[0067] For comparison, a purely aqueous solution (corresponding to the prior art) of 1.0 g Dormex (having a content of 51.1% cyanamide) in 99.0 g of tap water was produced.

[0068] The two application solutions 3a and 3b had a concentration of active ingredient of around 0.5% cyanamide.

Example 4

Testing as a Growth Regulator for Plants

[0069] At the start of the dormancy period at the end of November, cuttings were taken from an apple tree of the Topaz variety and were each cut to 15 cm in length (approx. 6 bud eyes). The cuttings were divided into 3 groups.

[0070] Group 1 was immersed in pure tap water for 15 seconds and then left to drip.

[0071] Group 2 was immersed in the application solution according to the invention from example 3a for 15 seconds and also left to drip.

[0072] Group 3 was immersed in the comparative application solution from example 3b and left to drip.

[0073] The cutting from groups 1, 2 and 3 were each separately placed into glass containers filled with tap water and were incubated for 30 days at 20 C. with artificial lighting. The results showed the following:

[0074] Group 1: no budding was observed.

[0075] Group 2: much budding was observed; in most cases 3 to 4 buds formed short shoots having 3 to 4 leaves.

[0076] Group 3: moderate budding was observed, preferably at the shoot tips, usually having just 2 to 3 leaves.

[0077] In summary, it was that found that the formulation according to the invention has an advantageous effect on budding, and has an effect that is improved in comparison with the known aqueous Dormex formulation.

[0078] In summary, the EC formulation according to the invention allows improved storage stability of the active ingredient concentrate solution in combination with an improved dormancy breaking effect of the application solution.