Crystalline forms of deltamethrin and methods of use thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel crystalline form of deltamethrin, which is a pyrethroid compound useful as a pest control agent. The present invention further relates to a process of preparing the novel crystalline form, and to methods of controlling pests using the novel crystalline form.

1 .- 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A deltamethrin dust comprising a crystalline form of deltamethrin wherein the deltamethrin dust is prepared by a process comprising the steps of heating deltamethrin Form I dust and cooling the heated deltamethrin dust to room temperature. 
     
     
         17 . The deltamethrin dust of  claim 16 , wherein the crystalline form of deltamethrin is present in an amount of about 0.05% by weight. 
     
     
         18 . The deltamethrin dust of  claim 16 , wherein the deltamethrin dust comprises calcium carbonate in an amount of about 95% to about 99.95%. 
     
     
         19 . The deltamethrin dust of  claim 16 , wherein the crystalline form of deltamethrin comprises Form II having a thin film X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at 8.3, 10.7, 16.9, 18.4, and 25.2 degrees two-theta (2θ). 
     
     
         20 . The deltamethrin dust of  claim 16 , wherein the step of heating deltamethrin Form I is performed in a microwave oven. 
     
     
         21 . The deltamethrin dust of  claim 16 , wherein the step of heating deltamethrin Form I is performed for about 100 seconds. 
     
     
         22 . The deltamethrin dust of  claim 16 , wherein the deltamethrin Form I dust is D-Fense Deltamethrin Dust. 
     
     
         23 . A method of controlling a pest comprising applying to the pest or its locus a deltamethrin dust comprising a crystalline form of deltamethrin, wherein the deltamethrin dust is prepared by a process comprising the steps of heating deltamethrin Form I dust and cooling the heated deltamethrin dust to room temperature. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the pest is an insect. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the insect is selected from adelgids, ants, aphids, annual bluegrass weevil (adults), azalea lace bugs, bagworms, bees, bed bugs, billbugs (adults), blue bottle flies, black turfgrass ataenius (adults), boxelder bugs, brown, marmorated stink bug, cankerworms, cardamom thrips, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, carpet beetles, centipedes, cecid flies, chinch bugs, clothes moths, clover mites, cluster flies, cockroaches, crickets, darkling beetles, dermestids, earwigs, elm leaf beetles, elm spanworms, European pine sawflies, fall webworms, firebrats, fleas (indoors & outdoors), flea beetles, flies, flesh flies, fruit flies, fungus gnats (sciarid flies), gnats, grasshoppers, green bottle flies, greenstriped mapleworms, ground beetles, gypsy moths (larvae), hide beetles, house flies , hornets, horseflies, imported willow leaf beetles, Indian meal moth, Japanese beetles, June beetles (adults), killer bees, leafhoppers, leaf-feeding caterpillars, leaf skeletonizers, leaf rollers, leather beetles, lice, loopers, maize weevils, mealybugs, midges, millipedes, mimosa webworms, mites, mole crickets, moths, mosquitoes, multicolored Asian lady beetles, orange-striped oakworms, pantry beetles, pantry moths, pillbugs, pine shoot beetles, pine tip moths, pinyon spindlegall midges, plant bugs, pharaoh's ants, phorid flies, redhumped caterpillar, red imported fire ants, red flour beetles, rice weevils, saw-toothed grain beetle, sawfly larvae, scale insects (crawlers), scorpions, silverfish, spiders, sod webworms, sowbugs, springtails, stable flies, pantry pests, stored product pests, tent caterpillars, ticks (indoors & outdoors), yellowjackets, yellownecked caterpillar, wasps, and webworms.