Question

Pesticides with more than one alkoxyl group cannot be de-alkylated.

(a) True

(b) False

I have been asked this question in a job interview.

This intriguing question originated from Microbial Transformations of Pesticides topic in portion Microbial Transformations of Pesticides of Environmental Biotechnology

Answer 1

Right choice is (b) False

The explanation: Pesticides usually have side chains which has one or more alkyl groups. In case, the pesticide does not have more than one alkoxyl group, it cannot be de-alkylated. So, it has to have more than one alkyl group to be de-alkylated.