Layered double hydroxide (LDH) with the Mg2+/Al3+ molar ratio of 2.0 containing interlayer organic pesticide glyphosate anions (MgAl-Gly-LDH) has been synthesized by the use of anion exchange and coprecipitation routes. Intercalation experiments with glyphosate (Gly) reveal a correlation between the temperatures for thermal treatments and the types of reaction it undergoes with Gly. The grafting of the Gly anion onto hydroxylated sheets of LDH by moderate thermal treatments (hydrothermal treatments and calcinations) was confirmed by a combination of several techniques, including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA-DTG), and P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The thermal decomposition of MgAl-Gly-LDH results in the removal of loosely held interlayer water, grafting reaction between the interlayer anions and hydroxyl groups on the lattice of LDH, dehydroxylation of the lattice and decomposition of the interlayer species in succession, thus leading to a variety of crystallographic transitions. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.