Oxathiapiprolin is a novel chiral piperidine thiazole isooxazoline fungicide that contains a pair of enantiomers. An effective analytical method was established for the enantioselective detection of oxathiapiprolin in fruit, vegetable, and soil samples using ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The optimal enantioseparation was achieved on a Chiralpak IG column at 35 °C using acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution (90:10, v/v) as the mobile phase. The absolute configuration of the oxathiapiprolin enantiomers was identified with the elution order of R-(-)-oxathiapiprolin and S-(+)-oxathiapiprolin by electron circular dichroism spectra. The bioactivity of R-(-)-oxathiapiprolin was 2.49 to 13.30-fold higher than that of S-(+)-oxathiapiprolin against six kinds of oomycetes. The molecular docking result illuminated the mechanism of enantioselectivity in bioactivity. The glide score (-8.00 kcal/mol) for the R-enantiomer was better with the binding site in Phytophthora capsici than the S-enantiomer (-7.50 kcal/mol). Enantioselective degradation in tomato and pepper under the field condition was investigated and indicated that R-(-)-oxathiapiprolin was preferentially degraded. The present study determines the enantioselectivity of oxathiapiprolin about enantioselective detection, bioactivity, and degradation for the first time. The R-enantiomer will be a better choice than racemic oxathiapiprolin to enhance the bioactivity and reduce the pesticide residues at a lower application rate.
Keywords: absolute configuration; bioactivity; degradation; enantioselective; oxathiapiprolin.