Discovery of the aryl heterocyclic amine insecticides: synthesis, insecticidal activity, field results, mode of action and bioavailability of a leading field candidate.

BACKGROUND: γ-Amino butyric acid (GABA) antagonists are proven targets for control of lepidopteran and other pests. New heterocyclic compounds with high insecticidal activity were discovered using a competitive-intelligence-inspired scaffold-hopping approach to generate analogs of fipronil, a known GABA antagonist. These novel aryl heterocyclic amines (AHAs) displayed broad-spectrum activity on a number of chewing insect pests. RESULTS: Through >370 modifications of the core AHA structure, a 7-pyrazolopyridine lead molecule was found to exhibit much improved activity on a number of insect pests. In field trial studies, its performance was 2-4 times lower than commercial standards and also appeared to be species dependent, with good activity seen for larvae of Spodoptera exigua, but inactivity on larvae of Trichoplusia ni. CONCLUSION: An extensive investigational biology effort demonstrated that these AHA analogs appear to have multiple modes of action, including GABA receptor antagonism and mitopotential or uncoupler activity. The limited capability in larvae of T. ni to convert the lead molecule to its associated open form correlates with the low toxicity of the lead molecule in this species. This work has provided information that could aid investigations of novel GABA antagonists. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Computational and Experimental Studies of Regioselective SNAr Halide Exchange (Halex) Reactions of Pentachloropyridine.

The Halex reaction of pentachloropyridine with fluoride ion was studied experimentally and computationally with a modified ab initio G3MP2B3 method. The G3 procedure was altered, as the anionic transition state optimizations failed due to the lack of diffuse functions in the small 6-31G* basis set. Experimental Halex regioselectivities were consistent with kinetic control at the 4-position. The reverse Halex reaction of fluoropyridines with chloride sources was demonstrated using precipitation of LiF in DMSO as a driving force. Reverse Halex regioselectivity at the 4-position was predicted by computations and was consistent with kinetic control. Scrambling of halide ions between chlorofluoropyridines was catalyzed by n-Bu4PCl, and the products of these reactions were shown to result from a combination of kinetic and thermodynamic control. Comparison of the C-F and C-Cl homolytic bond dissociation energies suggests that an important thermodynamic factor which controls regioselectivity in this system is the weak C2-Cl bond. The differences between ΔH° values of chlorofluoropyridines can be explained by a combination of three factors: (1) the number of fluorine atoms in the molecule, (2) the number of fluorine atoms at the C2 and C6 positions, and (3) the number of pairs of fluorine atoms which are ortho to one another.

The discovery of Arylex™ active and Rinskor™ active: Two novel auxin herbicides.

Multiple classes of commercially important auxin herbicides have been discovered since the 1940s including the aryloxyacetates (2,4-D, MCPA, dichlorprop, mecoprop, triclopyr, and fluroxypyr), the benzoates (dicamba), the quinoline-2-carboxylates (quinclorac and quinmerac), the pyrimidine-4-carboxylates (aminocyclopyrachlor), and the pyridine-2-carboxylates (picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid). In the last 10 years, two novel pyridine-2-carboxylate (or picolinate) herbicides were discovered at Dow AgroSciences. This paper will describe the structure activity relationship study that led to the discovery of the 6-aryl-picolinate herbicides Arylex™ active (2005) and Rinskor™ active (2010). While Arylex was developed primarily for use in cereal crops and Rinskor is still in development primarily for use in rice crops, both herbicides will also be utilized in additional crops.

Synthesis of Novel Fluoropicolinate Herbicides by Cascade Cyclization of Fluoroalkyl Alkynylimines.

The cascade cyclization of fluoroalkyl alkynylimines with primary amines has been modified to allow the synthesis of 4-amino-5-fluoropicolinates. Use of N-trityl and acetal protecting groups in the cyclization precursor led to 5-fluoropyridines that were easily deprotected to picolinaldehyde derivatives for further elaboration to structures of interest as potential herbicides. This method provided access to picolinic acids with alkyl or aryl substituents at the 6-position that were previously inaccessible via cross-coupling chemistry.

Discovery and characterization of sulfoxaflor, a novel insecticide targeting sap-feeding pests.

The discovery of sulfoxaflor [N-[methyloxido[1-[6-(trifluoromethyl)-3-pyridinyl]ethyl]-λ(4)-sulfanylidene] cyanamide] resulted from an investigation of the sulfoximine functional group as a novel bioactive scaffold for insecticidal activity and a subsequent extensive structure-activity relationship study. Sulfoxaflor, the first product from this new class (the sulfoximines) of insect control agents, exhibits broad-spectrum efficacy against many sap-feeding insect pests, including aphids, whiteflies, hoppers, and Lygus, with levels of activity that are comparable to those of other classes of insecticides targeting sap-feeding insects, including the neonicotinoids. However, no cross-resistance has been observed between sulfoxaflor and neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid, apparently the result of differences in susceptibility to oxidative metabolism. Available data are consistent with sulfoxaflor acting via the insect nicotinic receptor in a complex manner. These observations reflect the unique structure of the sulfoximines compared with neonicotinoids.