This article describes a part of the results obtained from the cooperation between the University of Lyon1 (France) and the University of Antananarivo (Madagascar). It shows (among others) that useful research can be carried out in developing countries of the tropics if their social, technical, and economic conditions are taken into account. The concepts and methods associated with so-called “green chemistry” are particularly appropriated for this purpose. To illustrate this approach, two examples are shown. The first deals with industrial ecology and concerns waste transformation from the production of cashew nut into an amphiphilic product, oxyacetic derivatives. This product was obtained with a high yield and in a single step reaction. It exhibited an important surfactant property similar to those of the main fossil-based ones but with a much lower ecological impact. The second talks about chemical ecology as an alternative to insecticides and used to control dangerous mosquito populations. New substituted chromones were synthesized and showed biological activities toward Aedes albopictus mosquito species. Strong repellent properties were recorded for some alkoxylated products if others had a significant attractant effect (Kairomone) depending on their stereochemistry and the length of the alkyl chain.

The use of semiochemicals as repellents and attractants has been proposed to complement insecticides used for the control of vector mosquito populations. In several studies, the optical purities of the molecules tested have been described as having little or no effect on repellent activity. However, these observations seem difficult to explain because of the chirality effect of molecules on the olfactory system of insects and humans. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assess the effects of chirality on the repellent properties of 4-alcoxycoumarins against Aedes albopictus Skuse, mosquito vector of arboviruses. We report here that the racemic (R/S)-4-sec-butoxycoumarin had the highest repellent effect (Repellent Index = 49.9%) followed by (R) enantiomer (Repellent Index = 24.2%) for the dose of 5 mg/mL. Contrary, no significant repellent activity was recorded for S-(+)-4-sec-butoxycoumarin. This experiment demonstrates the close relationship between the molecules’ optical purities and the behavioral response of mosquitoes.