Metabolism of 2,4-dichlorophenol by isolated perfused rat liver.

The uptake and metabolism of 2,4-[14C]dichlorophenol (2,4-[14C]DCP) was studied in the isolated perfused rat liver. The uptake of radioactivity in liver increased 6.6% (25.3-31.9%) in the presence of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and 14.9% (25.3-40.2%) in the presence of ATP and galactosamine. This increase in the uptake of radioactivity was indicative of maintaining the integrity of liver cells. The glucuronide conjugate of 2,4-DCP in bile was derivatized by permethylation and characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Two unusual metabolites were isolated from the liver and perfusate by extracting with hexane. The gas chromatogram of these metabolites gave peaks at retention times 12.0 and 15.5 min, and were characterized by mass spectrometry. The fragmentation pattern of these metabolites confirmed their identity as dichloromethoxyphenols.