2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was the first synthetic herbicide to be commercially developed and has commonly been used as a broadleaf herbicide for over 60 years. It is a selective herbicide that kills dicots without affecting monocots and mimics natural auxin at the molecular level. 2,4-D was developed during World War II as one of many so-called phenoxy herbicides by aiming to increase crop yields for a nation at war. It was commercially released in 1946 becoming the first successful selective herbicide and allowed for greatly enhanced weed control in wheat, maize, rice, and other similar cereal crops because it specifically targets dicots. This herbicide family is said to have “initiated an agricultural revolution and laid the corner stone of present-day weed science” when it was first marketed in the 1940s.