Insights into the Efficacy and Binding Mode of 1,4-Disubstituted 1,2,3-Triazoles─A New Class of Agricultural Nitrification Inhibitors

Abstract

Recently, 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles were reported by us as a new class of nitrification inhibitors, which can outperform the commercial compound 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) in soil incubations. In this work, the mechanism of inhibition of five 1,2,3-triazoles with different substitution patterns was explored using a bacterial assay based on the measurement of nitrite (NO2-) production by pure cell cultures of Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrosospira multiformis. While polar functional groups, such as amines, esters, and alkoxy residues, were detrimental to inhibiting production of NO2-, triazoles carrying only aliphatic substituents showed the highest inhibition of up to 98%...