Semiochemicals commercialization

I. a. both species-specific pheromones and natural or synthetic foreign substances, provided that they possess insect-attracting properties, are used. o-MeAyl-eugenol, anisylacetone, geraniol/ eugenol have proved to be useful in various mixtures as I. a. for certain species. 4-(p-Hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone (CI oH 12O2, Mr 164.20) and its acetate are commercially available as I. a. for the Mediterranean fruit fly Cera-titis capitata see also pheromones, allomones, syn-omones, kairomones, semiochemicals. 

Commercialization of semiochemicals for use in crop protection or in the fight against invasive weeds has an important cost issue. A conq)any must make a profit on any business activity in order to survive in a highly competitive marketplace. For this reason, synthetic pathways to the target compounds must be short and contain robust reactions. Elegant but difficult chemistry must be replaced by operationally convenient reactions. Tedious and expensive fractional distillation or chromatographic purification must be eliminated or at least minimized. These Tacts of life are usually neglected in the synthetic chemical literature so they are presented here. 

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