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The control of tick species that affect animal production is vital for the economic welfare of the cattle industry. This study focused on testing the acaricidal activity of the essential oil from the leaves and stems of Tagetes minuta against several Brazilian tick species, including Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Amblyomma cajennense and Argas miniatus. The chemical composition of the essential oil was determined by chromatography and spectroscopy analyses, which revealed the presence of monoterpenes. The adult immersion test (AIT) and the larval packet test (LPT) were used to evaluate the efficacy of T. minuta essential oil in tick management at concentrations of 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 40%. The results demonstrated that the T. minuta essential oil had over 95% efficacy against four species of ticks at a concentration of 20%. These results suggest that the essential oil of T. minuta could be used as an environmentally friendly acaricide.O controle de carrapatos que causa impacto na produção de bovinos possui importância econômica para a cadeia produtiva. Neste trabalho objetivou-se testar a atividade acaricida do óleo essencial das folhas e caules de Tagetes minuta contra várias espécies de carrapatos brasileiros, incluindo Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Amblyomma cajennense e Argas miniatus. A composição química do óleo foi determinada por GC-MS e análises de espectroscopia de RMN, que revelaram a presença de monoterpenos. Na avaliação destas substâncias no controle do carrapato foram empregados os testes de imersão de adulto (TIA) e o de pacote de larvas (TPL) para o extrato de óleo de T. minuta nas concentrações de 2,5%; 5%; 10%; 20% e 40%. Os resultados do TPL e TIA demonstraram que o óleo essencial na concentração de 20% de T. minuta apresenta eficácia superior a 95% nas quatro espécies de carrapato. Estes resultados sugerem que o óleo essencial de T. minuta pode ser usado como um acaricida eficaz e com baixo impacto ambiental.

The naphthoquinones are cyclic aromatic α,β-dienonas with a basic framework derived from naphthalene. They are also found in many higher plants, algae, fungi and as the product of the metabolism of some bacteria having large biologica activity described in the literature such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, anticancer and trypanocidal [1-3]. Castor oil is an abundant raw material in Brazil of great versatility and, it is present in biodiesel production, surfactants, cosmetics and others. Considering the importance of naphthoquinones and, the availability of the ricinoleic acid from castor oil, the aim of this study was the preparation of new branched naphthoquinones in order to test their trypanocidal activity. Castor oil was submitted to saponification with sodium hydroxide, ethanol and water under reflux for 6 h. We then carried out an acid hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid and the formed ricinoleic acid was extracted with ethyl acetate. Following, through Kochi-Anderson addition reaction it was performed the alkylation of a naphthoquinone 1 and 2, using ammonium persulfate, silver nitrate, acetonitrile and water, under heating at 70-80 ° C during 3 h, to give the branched naphthoquinones 4 and 5 (scheme 1). The naphthoquinone 3 will be similarly submitted to this procedure. The naphthoquinones 4 and 5 were purified by column chromatography on sílica gel using hexane as the eluent. The compounds were characterized by mass spectrometry and 1H and 13CNMR spectroscopy.

Porphyrins are very attractive compounds due to their wide application in many areas of new materials as chemical technology, ecology, medicine and, electronics. In the last years, they are also been a focus of attention owing to their implications to many photocatalytic reactions. Cardanol (isolated form cashew nut shell liquid) and glycerol (side product of biodiesel industry) are raw materials of low aggregated value; however, they hold chemical structures with functionalities that can lead to products of high commercial value to Brazilian industry. Aiming to use these chemical materials, our research group has proposed the synthesis of new hybrid molecular structures of porphyrin-cardanol-glycerol, which will be submitted to test of their photocatalytic properties. The synthetic proposal is based on the reaction of 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1) and epichloriridine (2) (derived from glycerol), using pyridine in dichloromethane and FeCl3 as a catalyst, under reflux and stirring. This process will provide the mixture of intermediate 3 and 4. These compounds will be attacked by the nucleophile cardanol (5) in sealed tube, using pyridine and dichloromethane at 120 ºC for 80 hours, giving the intermediate 6. After oxidation of the alcohol 6, the corresponding ketone will be achieved. Continuing the synthesis, these intermediates will separately react with pyrrol, giving the wished porphyrins that in turn will be transformed in macromolecules by treatment with Grubbs catalyst, according to methodologies already known in the literature. The previously synthesized compounds 3, 4, 5 and 6 had their structures confirmed by spectroscopy analyses of NMR (1H and 13C).