O‐nitrobenzyl Caged Molecule Enables Photo‐controlled Release of Thiabendazole

Abstract

Pesticides are essential in agricultural development. Controlled‐release pesticides have attracted great attentions. Base on a principle of spatiotemporal selectivity, we extended the photoremovable protective group (PRPG) into agrochemical agents to achieve controllable release of active ingredients. Herein, we obtained NP‐TBZ by covalently linking o‐nitrobenzyl (NP) with thiabendazole (TBZ). Compound NP‐TBZ can be controlled to release TBZ in dependent to light. The irradiated and unirradiated NP‐TBZ showed significant differences on fungicidal activities both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the irradiated NP‐TBZ displayed similar antifungal activities to the directly‐used TBZ, indicating a factual applicability in controllable release of TBZ. Furthermore, we explored the action mode and microcosmic variations by SEM analysis, and demonstrated that the irradiated NP‐TBZ retained a same action mode with TBZ against mycelia growth.