No abstract

A series of novel phenyl methoxyacrylate derivatives containing a 2-alkenylthiopyrimidine substructure were designed, synthesized, and evaluated in terms of acaricidal activity. The structures of the title compounds were identified by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and high-resolution mass spectra (HRMS). Compound (E)-methyl 2-(2-((2-(3,3-dichloroallylthio)-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidin-4-yloxy)methyl)phenyl)-3-methoxyacr-ylate (4j) exhibited significant acaricidal activity against Tetranychus cinnabarinus (T. cinnabarinus) in greenhouse tests possessing nearly twice the larvicidal and ovicidal activity compared to fluacrypyrim. Furthermore, the results of the field trials demonstrated that compound 4j could effectively control Panonychuscitri with long-lasting persistence and rapid action. The toxicology data in terms of LD50 value confirmed that compound 4j has a relatively low acute toxicity to mammals, birds, and honeybees.

A series of aryldifluoromethyl pyrimidine compounds containing strobilurin were synthesized through bioelectronic isometric design with azoxystrobin as the lead compound and a convenient approach to aryldifluoromethylpyrimidine intermediates was developed, which features mild reaction conditions and simple operation. The title compounds and aryldifluoromethylpyrimidine intermediates were characterized by NMR and HRMS. Both 7c and 7l of the preliminary screening tests showed 100% inhibition against Mythimna separata at 100 mg/L. At 20 mg/L, the lethal rate of 7l against Mythimna separata can be up to 80%.

In order to find new heterocyclic compounds with high herbicidal activity, a series of novel 2-phenylpyridine derivatives were designed and synthesized by incorporating alkenyl into 2-phenylpyridine moieties. The structures of the title compounds were characterized by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, 19 F NMR, and HRMS. The herbicidal activities assay demonstrated that most of the title compounds showed 100% inhibition against Abutilon theophrasti and Amaranthus retroflexus at 150 g a.i./ha. At 37.5 g a.i./ha, compounds 6f and 6g exhibited comparable inhibition (>80%) against Abutilon theophrasti, Amaranthus retroflexus, and Eclipta prostrate, when compared with the positive control mesotrione at 150 g a.i./ha.

To find novel herbicidal compounds with high activity and broad spectrum, a series of phenylpyridine moiety-containing α-trifluoroanisole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and identified via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Greenhouse-based herbicidal activity assays revealed that compound 7a exhibited > 80% inhibitory activity against Abutilon theophrasti, Amaranthus retroflexus, Eclipta prostrate, Digitaria sanguinalis, and Setaria viridis at a dose of 37.5 g a.i./hm2, which was better than fomesafen. Compound 7a further exhibited excellent herbicidal activity against Abutilon theophrasti and Amaranthus retroflexus in this greenhouse setting, with respective median effective dose (ED50) values of 13.32 and 5.48 g a.i./hm2, both of which were slightly superior to fomesafen (ED50 = 36.39, 10.09 g a.i./hm2). The respective half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) for compound 7a and fomesafen when used to inhibit the Nicotiana tabacum protoporphyrinogen oxidase (NtPPO) enzyme, were 9.4 and 110.5 nM. The docking result of compound 7a indicated that the introduction of 3-chloro-5-trifluoromethylpyridine and the trifluoromethoxy group was beneficial to the formation of stable interactions between these compounds and NtPPO. This work demonstrated that compound 7a could be further optimized as a PPO herbicide candidate to control various weeds.