Selective reduction, characterization and biological activity of 3-aryl-1-ferrocynyl-2-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-2-propen-1-one derivatives

3-Aryl-1-ferrocenyl-2-(1H-1,2,4-triazole)-1-yl-2-propen-1-one derivatives were prepared from ferrocene and reduced to related saturated and unsaturated alcohol derivatives under the selective conditions, respectively. In addition, selective reduction of alpha,beta-unsaturated ferrocenyl ketone was also discussed. The structures of the tide compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, H-1 NMR and X-ray diffraction analysis. It was shown that ferrocene, as an organometallic compound, was introduced into bioactive triazole compounds in search of potent bioactive substances. Bioassay displayed that some of the title compounds possess fungicidal activity against C. ara and the unsaturated alcohol derivatives showed higher plant-growth regulatory activity than saturated ones.