Amicarbazone is a new triazolinone herbicide with a broad spectrum of weed control. The phenotypic responses of sensitive plants exposed to amicarbazone include chlorosis, stunted growth, tissue necrosis, and death. Its efficacy as both a foliar- and root-applied herbicide suggests that absorption and translocation of this compound is very rapid. This new herbicide is a potent inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transport, inducing chlorophyll fluorescence and interrupting oxygen evolution ostensibly via binding to the Qb domain of photosystem II (PSII) in a manner similar to the triazines and the triazinones classes of herbicides. As a result, its efficacy is susceptible to the most common form of resistance to PSII inhibitors. Nonetheless, amicarbazone has a good selectivity profile and is a more potent herbicide than atrazine, which enables its use at lower rates than those of traditional photosynthetic inhibitors.

Nomenclature: Amicarbazone; photosystem inhibitor, CAS No. 129909-90-6, BAY MKH 3586; atrazine, CAS No. 1912-24-9.