Brief History of Metolachlor<BR>Synthesized by Ciba-Geigy in 1972 <BR>50/50% mixture of R + S isomers <BR>Registered for corn in 1977 <BR>Registered for peanut in 1980 (February) <BR>S-metolachlor registered for use in 1997 (Novartis) <BR>12/88% mix of R + S isomers <BR>Patent expiration <BR>EPA Reduced Risk Pesticide Program <BR>Novartis stopped selling “old” metolachlor in 1999, phased out completely by 2001. <BR>Novartis + AstraZeneca became Syngenta in 2000 <BR>Generic companies started producing “old” metolachlor in 2003 (i.e. 50/50 mix of R + S isomer). <BR>