Science and Education Publishing World Journal of Chemical Education 2375-1657 3 6 2015 12 3 Spectroscopic and Electrochemical Investigations of N-(Phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate) and (Aminomethyl)phosphonic Acid (AMPA) 134 140 EN A. Habekost Department of Chemistry, University of Education, Reuteallee 46, D-71634 Ludwigsburg, Germany WJCE2015362 10.12691/wjce-3-6-2 2015 7 6 2015 10 11 2015 12 1 N-(Phosphonomethyl)glycin (glyphosate), known by the trade name of Roundup®, is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used to kill several types of grass weed. It was first synthesized in 1970 by J. E. Franz, a chemist at the agrochemical corporation Monsanto. Glyphosate's mode of action is to inhibit a plant enzyme involved in the synthesis of some aromatic amino acids. There is some controversy at present about the use of Roundup® because its hazard potential is not clear. In this article, we present some reliable and easily performed spectroscopic and electrochemical measurements to identify glyphosate isolated as well as in some commercial products. The analogous experiments apply to (Aminomethyl)phosphonic acid (AMPA), the hydrolysis product of glyphosate.