Article
J. Agric. Food Chem., Vol. 58, No. 5, 2010 2665
a
Scheme 1
a Reagents and conditions: (a) NaH/(CH3O)2CO in THF, reflux; (b) CH3NHNH2 in CH3OH, reflux; (c) NaH in DMF, 80°C; (d) CH3NH2 in THF, reflux.
(5) with aqueous methylamine in tetrahydrofuran (THF) as
shown in Scheme 1.
Biological Assay. Evaluations of biological activities of the reported
compounds were performed as previously described (11-13). Biological
data were reported as the range from 0 (indicates no control) to 100%
(complete control).
General Procedure for the Synthesis of Intermediate β-Keto
Esters (2). A suspension of 60% sodium hydride (0.10 mol, washed with
petroleum ether) in a mixture of dimethyl carbonate (0.05 mol) and 100
mL of tetrahydrofuran was heated to reflux for 0.5 h. A solution of the
substituted phenyl ketones (1) (0.05 mol) in 100 mL of tetrahydrofuran
was added dropwise over 0.5 h while refluxing continued. When the
reaction mixture became clear, it was refluxed for an additional 4-5 h.
Then, the mixture was cooled and acidified with 36.5% hydrochloric acid
and filtered. The filtrate was poured into a large amount of water,
extracted three times with ethyl acetate. The combined extracts were
washed with brine, dried, and concentrated under vacuum to obtain the
crude oily product.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Synthetic Chemistry. According to procedures exemplified
above, strobilurin derivatives were synthesized mostly with good
overall yields of 60-75% (5) and 70-90% (6), as shown in
Tables 1 and 2 (for 3-substituted-phenyl-1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-5-
yloxy analogues, 5a-5h and 6a-6h) and in Tables 1 and 2 (for
3-substituted-phenyl-1,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yloxy ana-
logs, 5i-5r and 6i-6r). The synthesized compounds were char-
acterized by 1H NMR, IR, and elemental analyses. All spectral
and analytical data were consistent with the assigned structures.
The IR spectra of compounds showed C-H and CdO stretching
bands at 2920-2960 and 1700-1720 cm-1, respectively.
Fungicidal Activities. As indicated in Tables 1 and 2, many of
the synthesized compounds exhibit potent activity against Pyr-
icularia oryzae, Phytophthora infestans, P. cubensis, and Erysiphe
graminis. Methylpyrazolyloxy analogues (abbreviated as the Me
series, hereafter) seem to be slightly less potent than the corres-
ponding equivalent dimethylpyrazolyloxy analogues (abbre-
viated as the Me2 series). However, there are a few exceptions
such as the pair of 2,4-(CH3)2-Ph analogues (e and l). For both the
oximinoacetates 5 and the oxinoacetamides 6, under equivalent
dosage conditions of 25 or 400 mg L-1, most of the two series of
analogues show 100% inhibition against P. oryzae, P. infestans,
P. cubensis, and E. graminis. Therefore, the fungicidal activity was
measured at a lower dose range.
Because of the paucity of the dose-potency data, detailed
structure-activity discussion for the fungicidal activity is almost
impossible. There seems to be an optimal hydrophobicity and/or
a sterically acceptable limit of phenyl substituents (R1) as shown
for the mono and dimethyl phenyl substituents in compounds e, j,
k, l, and m in Tables 1 and 2. This structure-activity relationship
appears to apply for the activity against P. cubensis and
E. graminis. The most potent compounds at the lowest doses
are, in general, the most active against P. oryzae and P. infestans
as shown in Tables 1 and 2. Due to the lack of a wide range of
phenyl substituents, it is difficult to conclude if there is an
electron-withdrawing effect. For example, in the Me series of
Tables 1 and 2, 4-Cl-Ph (b) versus 4-CH3O-Ph (f) and 2-Cl-Ph
(h) versus 2-CH3O-Ph (g) provide substantially similar activities.
In the Me2 series of Table 1 4-Cl-Ph (i) is more active than
4-CH3O-Ph (p), whereas in Table 2 they are about equivalent in
activity. In this study, compounds 5i, 5j, 5l, 6l, and 6m of the Me2
series are the most active and possess a broader spectrum of
fungicidal activity than compounds of the Me series.
General Procedure for the Synthesis of Intermediate Pyrazoles
(3). Each of the β-keto esters (2) was dissolved in methanol and heated to
reflux. Methyl hydrazine was added dropwise to the reaction solution. The
process of the reaction was monitored by thin-layer chromatography
(TLC), and upon completion the reaction solution was evaporated under
vacuum and cooled. The filtered solid was washed with methanol, dried,
and used directly in the preparation of compounds 5.
Procedure for the Synthesis of Compound 5i. 3-(4-Chlorophenyl)-
1,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-5-ol (10.10 mmol) was dissolved in 5 mL of
DMF, and 60% sodium hydride (19.00 mmol, washed with petroleum
ether) was added to the solution. The solution was stirred for 0.5 h, and
(E)-methyl 2-(2-(bromomethyl)phenyl)-2-methoxyiminoacetate (10.30
mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was heated to 80 °C and
monitored by TLC. At completion of the reaction (after 3 h), the mixture
was added to 50 mL of brine and extracted three timeswith 100 mL of ethyl
acetate. The combined organic extracts were dried and concentrated to
obtain the crude product. It was purified via silica gel column chroma-
tography, using a 1:4 (v/v) mixture of ethyl acetate and petroleum ether
(boiling range = 60-90 °C) as the eluting solution to obtain compound 5i
as viscous oil.
Procedure for the Synthesis of the Compounds 6. The compounds
5 (3.00 mmol) were dissolved in 5 mL of THF, and a slight excess of a
methylamine solution (25-30%) was added dropwise to the solution. The
mixture was refluxed for 1 h (the reaction was monitored by TLC) and
then concentrated. Water was added to the residue and extracted three
times with 50 mL of ethyl acetate, and the combined organic extracts were
dried and concentrated. The crude product was purified via silica gel
column chromatography to obtain the compounds 6.
Example data of 5i and 6l are shown as follows, whereas data for the
other compounds can be found in the Supporting Information.
Data for 5i: yield 75.3% of oil; IR (KBr) ν 2945 (s, C-H), 1730 (s,
CdO), 1490 (s, CdN), 1440 (s, CH3), 1310 (m, C-N), 1210 (s, C-O), 770,
700 (s, Ph-H) cm-1 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.59-7.61
;
(m, 1H, Ph-6-H), 7.40-7.46 (m, 4H, 3-Ph-2,3,5,6-4H), 7.26-7.30 (m,
2H, Ph-3,5-2H), 7.19-7.21 (m, 1H, Ph-4-H), 5.15 (s, 2H, CH2), 4.05 (s,
3H, OCH3), 3.85 (s, 3H, CO2CH3), 3.61 (s, 3H, NCH3), 1.84 (s, 3H, Py-
CH3). Anal. Calcd: C, 61.75; H, 5.18; N, 9.82. Found: C, 61.54; H, 5.27; N,
10.03.
Data for 6l: yield 87.5% of a white solid; mp 163-165 °C; IR (KBr) ν
3240(s, NH), 2920 (s, C-H), 1660 (s, CdO), 1500 (s, CdN), 1400 (s, CH3),
1295(m, C-N), 1190 (s, C-O), 820, 750 (s, Ph-H) cm-1; 1H NMR (300
MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.59-7.61 (m, 1H, Ph-6-H), 7.39-7.41 (m, 2H, Ph-3,5-
2H), 7.20 (m, 1H, Ph-4-H), 7.04-7.08 (m, 3H, 3-Ph-3,5,6-3H), 6.76 (m,
1H, NH), 5.15 (s, 2H, CH2), 3.96 (s, 3H, OCH3), 3.41 (s, 3H, NCH3),
2.87-2.89 (d, J = 4.8 Hz, 3H, NHCH3), 2.37 (s, 3H, 2-CH3), 2.09 (s, 3H,
4-CH3), 1.70 (s, 3H, Py-4-CH3).
Insecticidal Activity. Some of the synthesized compounds
exhibit insecticidal and acaricidal activities. The compounds were
tested against Leucania venalba, Myzus persicae, Culex pipiens
pallens, and Tetranychus cinnabarinus at 600 mg L-1. Com-
pounds 5m and 6p exhibited 100% control against L. venalba,
whereas compounds 5a, 5d, 5e, 5m, 6b, 6d, 6g, and 6m exhibited
100% control against M. persicae. Compounds 5b and 6b