Synthesis and insecticidal activity of chromanone and chromone analogues of diacylhydrazines

Diacylhydrazine derivatives have been identified as one of the most important insect growth regulators. A variety of diacylhydrazine derivatives were designed and synthesized in recent years due to their unique action mechanism, simple structure, and environmental benign character. This paper describes the molecular design, synthesis, and insecticidal activities of a series of chromanone and chromone analogues of diacylhydrazine derivatives. The preliminary bioassay showed that some of the chromanone analogues exhibited good insecticidal activity against Mythima separata at the dosage of 500 mg L-1. The present work demonstrated that replacement of the chroman ring of ANS-118, a commercial insecticide, with chromanone moiety could result in new compounds with high potent insecticidal activity. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.