Spirodiclofen Analogues as Potential Lipid Biosynthesis Inhibitors: A Convenient Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Structure-Activity Relationship

Twenty spirodiclofen analogues have been designed and conveniently synthesized via three steps including esterification, one-pot heterocyclization, and acylation reactions. The target molecules have been identified on the basis of analytical spectra (H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR and ESI-MS) data. All newly synthesized compounds have been screened for their potential insecticidal and herbicidal activity by standard method. The preliminary assays indicated that some of analogues displayed moderate to good insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella compared with spirodiclofen, and some compounds showed obvious activity against Brassica chinensis. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) is also discussed based on the experimental data.