Synthesis and Insecticidal Activity of Novel Camptothecin Derivatives Containing Analogs of Chrysanthemic Acid Moieties

Creating high-efficient and environment-friendly pesticides is very important to produce the pollution free agriculture food and maintain the balance of the survival environmental of the human being. According to reports, camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives are now being explored as a class of botanical insecticide in agriculture due to its novel mode of action. In order to improve the insecticidal activity of CPT, ten novel camptothecin (1) and 10-hydroxycamptothecin (2) derivatives (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e; 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) were designed and synthesized via esterification with analogs of chrysanthemic acid, which have outstanding insecticidal activity. The results showed that compound 2a exhibited potent antifeeding effect and the best contact toxicity among the target compounds against the third-instar larvae of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua Hübner. Compound 2a was also found to be the most effective cytotoxic compound to the tested insect cell lines, IOZCAS-Spex-II, which were established from the fat bodies of S. exigua. It was proposed that the 10-hydroxyl group in the camptothecin derivatives is a key factor for the antifeeding activity of a compound. The nature of the substituents was considered the major factor in determining the insecticidal activity of these compounds.