Carboxylic Acid Derivatives in Herbicide Development

Carboxylicacids and their derivatives are extensively found innatural and non-natural compounds with proven bioactivities. Theyhave made great contributions to the development of herbicides andherbicidal lead structures in the past 70 years. Carboxylic acid-relatedherbicidal molecules have targeted a diversity of biosynthetic pathways,proteins, enzymes, energetic metabolism systems, and other reactionsites through different mechanisms. It is significant and helpfulfor us to know the herbicidal targets and mechanisms of the carboxylicacid-related herbicides as well as the basic rules for the designand development of herbicidal lead structures. We therefore summarizehere the overall development of carboxyl group-containing herbicidesand herbicidal molecules in the past 20 years based on their structuralproperties and herbicidal mechanisms.