Esters, pyrethroid insecticides

We have earlier discussed the pyrethroid area of insecticides. A number of ester and non-ester pyrethroid insecticides have incorporated the difluoromethoxy group as a means of widening their biological activity to the control of mites [115], Flucythrinate (Cybolt , Cythrin , Pay-Off ) [116] provides control of a variety of sucking insects, beetles, and lepidoptera in cotton and pome fruits. Later, a close analog, flubrocythrinate, was commercialized [117]. 

Synthetic Pyrethroid Insecticides. Elucidation of the chemical stmctures of the naturally occurring pyrethmm esters, their rapid and selective insecticidal action, and their high cost stimulated the search for effective synthetic derivatives (13,17,21). Since the 1940s, stmctural optimisation has produced an array of broad-spectmm insecticides with activity 10- to 20-fold greater than other types of insecticides, and with extended residual action. These synthetic pyrethroids have become one of the most important classes of insecticides with world aimual production estimated at 6000 t (21). 

The compounds featured in Table 1.1 are considered briefly here. Pyrethrins are lipophilic esters that occur in Chrysanthemum spp. Extracts of flower heads of Chrysanthemum spp. contain six different pyrethrins and have been used for insect control (Chapter 12). Pyrethrins act upon sodium channels in a manner similar to p,p -DDT. The highly successful synthetic pyrethroid insecticides were modeled on natural pyrethrins. 

The structures of some pyrethroid insecticides are shown in Figure 12.1. They are all lipophilic esters showing some structural resemblance to the natural pyrethrins. They can all exist in a number of different enantiomeric forms. Permethrin, cypermethrin, and deltamethrin, for example, all have three asymmetric carbon atoms... 

Synthetic pyrethroids now account for at least 30% of the world insecticide market and are rapidly replacing other agricultural chemicals for control of insect pests. Fenvalerate is one of the more widely used synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. It is derived from a combination of a-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol and a-isopropyl phenylacetate ester. Technical fenvalerate is a mixture of four optical isomers, each occurring in equal amounts but with different efficacies against insect pests. Fenvalerate does not usually persist in the environment for >10 weeks, and it does not accumulate readily in the biosphere. Time for 50% loss (Tb 1/2) in fenvalerate-exposed amphibians, birds, and mammals was 6 to 14 h for reptiles, terrestrial insects, aquatic snails, and fish it was >14 h to <2 days and for various species of crop plants, it was 2 to 28 days. Fenvalerate degradation in water is due primarily to photoactivity, and in soils to microbial activity. Half-time persistence in nonbiological materials is variable, but may range up to 6 days in freshwater, 34 days in seawater, 6 weeks in estuarine sediments, and 9 weeks in soils. 

Casida, J.E. and LJ. Lawrence. 1985. Structure-activity correlations for interactions of bicyclophosphorus esters and some polychlorocycloalkane and pyrethroid insecticides with the brain-specific t-butylcyclo-phosphorothionate receptor. Environ. Health Perspec. 61 123-132. 

A. aegypti colonies were found to have developed cross-resistance to even polyfluoro benzylalcohol ester pyrethroids with potent insecticidal activity. Mosquito coils of these compounds were effective against allethrin-susceptible A. aegypti colonies at ultra-low concentration, but needed several times higher concentrations for A. aegypti colonies in Group III in Table 8 (unpublished). 

Ohno N, Fujimoto K, Okuno Y, Mizutani T, Hirano M, Itaya N, Honda T, Yoshioka H (1974) A new class of pyrethroidal insecticides a-substituted phenyacetic acid esters. Agric Biol Chem 38 881-883... 

Both compounds included here are experimental and in each case the pyridine is a benzene replacement and is not essential for the activity. The urea (103) (79SAP7802440) is a member of a highly active series that kill insects by disrupting the formation of new insect cuticle, through inhibition of chitin synthesis. The cyclopropane ester (104) (78GEP2810881) is a heterocyclic analogue of the pyrethroid insecticides, an extremely successful new class which are active on a wide range of insects. 

When the carbinol substituents (R) were the bulky 5-ler -butyl-2-(n-octyloxy)phenyl group, optimum enantioselectivities were achieved with the catalytic use of the corresponding Cu(II) complex (2) in both enantiomeric forms. Specific applications of the Aratani catalysts have included the synthesis of chrysanthemic acid esters (Eq. 5.6) and a precursor to permethrinic acid, both potent units of pyrethroid insecticides, and for the commercial preparation of ethyl (S)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (Eq. 5.2), which is used for constructing cilastatin. Several other uses of these catalysts and their derivatives for cyclopropanation reactions have been reported albeit, in most cases, with only moderate enantioselectivities [26-29],... 

The non-ester pyrethroid flufenprox is a broad spectrum insecticide with residual activity against hemiptera, lepidoptera, and coleopteran insects in rice. It is reported that flufenprox is safe to beneficial insects such as spiders and predaceous mites [175]. 

Efficient biochemical processes were developed for the preparation of the two optically active pyrethroid insecticides by a combination of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and chemical transformations. These are based on the findings that a lipase from Arthrobacter species hydrolyzes the acetates of the two important secondary alcohols of synthetic pyrethroids with high enantioselectivity and reaction rate. The two alcohols are 4-hydroxy-3-methy1-2-(2 -propynyl)-2-cyclopentenone (HMPC) and a-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol (CPBA). The enzyme gave optically pure (R)-HMPC or (S)-CPBA and the unhydrolyzed esters of their respective antipodes. 

Carboxylesterases are involved in resistance to ester-containing insecticides such as organophosphate, carbamate, and pyrethroid insecticides. Resistance to organophosphate insecticides caused by enhanced carboxylesterase activity has been demonstrated in numerous insects and mites, including the mosquito (Cidex tarsalis, Culex pipiens, and... 

Sulfur ylides can also be used in the synthesis of chrysanthemate esters (72) from hept-2-enoates (73) (Scheme 27). The natural insecticide pyrethrum is a complex chrysanthemate ester, and the formation of trans-chrysanthemic acid is consequently important for the synthesis of many synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. 

In this work it was reported that the biological activity and residual properties of biphenyl-3-ylmethyl (1R,S)-cis-3-(2,2-di-chlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate were about one-half that of the corresponding 3-phenoxybenzyl ester. The preparation of a series of substituted derivatives of biphenyl-3-ylmethyl (1R,S)-cis-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane-carboxylates resulted in esters with significantly greater insecticidal activity and broader spectrum of biological activity than the conventional pyrethroid insecticides(7). The 2-monosubstituted derivatives were found to be the most active compounds in this series with the 2-methyl compound being the most active. This result encouraged us to combine these biphenyl-3-ylmethyl compounds with alkyl aryl methanone oximes. 

Copper and copper salts also mediate transfer of an alkoxycarbonyl(cyano)methylene unit from a-bromo-a-cyanoacetic esters to certain halogenated 1,3-dienes, e.g. formation of This reaction, which has been carried out with various modifications (including the use of ethyl a-chloro-(x-cyanoacetate), gives access to the acid component of several pyrethroid insecticides. In mechanistic terms, a radical 1,2-addition of the a-halogenated ester to the alkene followed by dehydrohalogenative cyclization takes place (cf. Houben-Weyl Vol.4/3, p369). 

Enantioselection can be controlled much more effectively with the appropriate chiral copper, rhodium, and cobalt catalyst.The first major breakthrough in this area was achieved by copper complexes with chiral salicylaldimine ligands that were obtained from salicylaldehyde and amino alcohols derived from a-amino acids (Aratani catalysts ). With bulky diazo esters, both the diastereoselectivity (transicis ratio) and the enantioselectivity can be increased. These facts have been used, inter alia, for the diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis of chrysan-themic and permethrinic acids which are components of pyrethroid insecticides (Table 10). 0-Trimethylsilyl enols can also be cyclopropanated enantioselectively with alkyl diazoacetates in the presence of Aratani catalysts. In detailed studies,the influence of various parameters, such as metal ligands in the catalyst, catalyst concentration, solvent, and alkene structure, on the enantioselectivity has been recorded. Enantiomeric excesses of up to 88% were obtained with catalyst 7 (R = Bz = 2-MeOCgH4). 

In this way, esters of chrysanthemic acid (2) [15,16,18] and permethrinic acid [17,18], which are important precursors for the synthesis of pyrethroid insecticides, can be prepared in >90% ee. Although enantioselective cyclopropanation cannot compete with conventional industrial syntheses of optically active pyrethroids, a technical process for the cyclopropanation of 2-methylpropene was successfully implemented at Sumitomo [18]. The product, ethyl (-l-)-2,2-dimeth-ylcyclopropanecarboxylate, serves as a starting material for the production of cilastatin, a dehydropeptidase inhibitor used as a drug to suppress the degradation of the P-lactam antibiotic iminipenem. 

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