Design, Synthesis, and Bioactivity Determination of Novel Malononitrile Derivatives Containing 1,2,3-Triazole

Using antifungal agrochemicals as the most economical solution might reduce plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi, which have a significant negative impact on the quality and yield of food worldwide. In this work, 33 compounds (G) containing 1,2,3-triazole and malononitrile structures were synthesized. When the compounds were tested in vitro against six fungal species, they exhibited significant fungicidal activity toward Botrytis cinerea and Rhizoctonia solani. Compounds G17 and G30 displayed promising in vivo efficacy, with an EC50 of 0.19 and 0.27 mg/L respectively against R. solani. Fungal ergosterol production was suppressed by compounds G17 and G30, according to a preliminary analysis of their mechanism of action on R. solani using transcriptomics and scanning electron microscopy. It has been shown through experimentation that compounds G17 and G30 prevent R. solani from synthesizing ergosterol. Ultimately, it was anticipated that compounds G17 and G30 would be discovered to be low-toxic.

Green Synthesis and Antifungal Activities of Novel N-Aryl Carbamate Derivatives

Carbamate is a key structural motif in the development of fungicidal compounds, which is still promising and robust in the discovery of green pesticides. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of the fungicidal activity of 35 carbamate derivatives, among which 19 compounds were synthesized in our previous report. These derivatives were synthesized from aromatic amides in a single step, which was a green oxidation process for Hofmann rearrangement using oxone, KCl and NaOH. Their chemical structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Their antifungal activity was tested against seven plant fungal pathogens. Many of the compounds exhibited good antifungal activity in vitro (inhibitory rate > 60% at 50 μg/mL). Compound 1ag exhibited excellent broad-spectrum antifungal activities with inhibition rates close to or higher than 70% at 50 μg/mL. Notably, compound 1af demonstrated the most potent inhibition against F. graminearum, with an EC50 value of 12.50 μg/mL, while compound 1z was the most promising candidate fungicide against F. oxysporum (EC50 = 16.65 μg/mL). The structure-activity relationships are also discussed in this paper. These results suggest that the N-aryl carbamate derivatives secured by our green protocol warrant further investigation as potential lead compounds for novel antifungal agents.

Amide bioisosteric replacement in the design and synthesis of quorum sensing modulators

The prevention or control of bacterial infections requires continuous search for novel approaches among which bacterial quorum sensing inhibition is considered as a complementary antibacterial strategy. Quorum sensing, used by many different bacteria, functions through a cell-to-cell communication mechanism relying on chemical signals, referred to as autoinducers, such as N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) which are the most common chemical signals in this system. Designing analogs of these autoinducers is one of the possible ways to interfere with quorum sensing. Since bioisosteres are powerful tools in medicinal chemistry, targeting analogs of AHLs or other signal molecules and mimics of known QS modulators built on amide bond bioisosteres is a relevant strategy in molecular design and synthetic routes. This review highlights the application of amide bond bioisosteric replacement in the design and synthesis of novel quorum sensing inhibitors.

Potential Fungicide Candidates: A Dual Action Mode Study of Novel Pyrazole-4-carboxamides against Gibberella zeae

Pyrazole carboxamides are a class of traditional succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs) that have developed into a variety of commercialized fungicides. In the present work, a series of novel 1,5-disubstituted-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxamide derivatives were designed and synthesized based on the active backbone of 5-trifluoromethyl-1H-4-pyrazole carboxamide. Bioassay results indicated that some target compounds exhibited excellent in vitro antifungal activities against six phytopathogenic fungi. Notably, the EC₅₀ values of Y₄₇ against Gibberella zeae, Nigrospora oryzae, Thanatephorus cucumeris, and Verticillium dahliae were 5.2, 9.2, 12.8, and 17.6 mg/L, respectively. The in vivo protective and curative activities of Y₄₇ at 100 mg/L against G. zeae on maize were 50.7 and 44.2%, respectively. Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) analysis revealed that the large steric hindrance and electronegative groups on the 5-position of the pyrazole ring were important for the activity. The IC₅₀ value of Y₄₇ against succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) was 7.7 mg/L, superior to fluopyram (24.7 mg/L), which was consistent with the docking results. Morphological studies with fluorescence microscopy (FM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) found that Y₄₇ could affect the membrane integrity of mycelium by inducing endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and causing peroxidation of cellular lipids, which was further verified by the malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Antifungal mechanism analysis demonstrated that the target compound Y₄₇ not only had significant SDH inhibition activity but could also affect the membrane integrity of mycelium, exhibiting obvious dual action modes. This research provides a novel approach to the development of traditional SDHIs and their derivatives.

Synthesis and hydrolysis of monocarbamate from allylic 1,4-dicarbamate: Bis-homodichloroinositol

The synthesis of novel bis-homodichloroinositol with a configuration similar to that of conduritol-D is reported for the first time. The photooxygenation of cis-dichloro-diene obtained using cyclooctatetraene as the starting molecule afforted the tricyclic endoperoxide. The reduction of the endoperoxide with thiourea gave the corresponding allylic cis-diol. Formation of the bis-carbamate groups with p-TsNCO of allylic cis-diol followed by the [(dba)₃Pd₂CHCl₃] in the presence of trimethylsilyl azide, gave a new monocarbamate as well as oxazolidinone derivative. Oxidation of the double bond in the monocarbamate with osmium tetraoxide followed by acetylation furnished the desired monocarbamate triacetate. Eventually, the desired halogenated bicyclo[4.2.0] inositol (bis-homodichloroinositol) were obtained in high yield by hydrolysis of the acetate groups and monocarbanate group by potassium carbonate in methanol. Characterization of all the synthesized compounds were performed by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, COSY (2D-NMR), HRMS, and Elemental Analysis techniques.