Sulfonate derivatives bearing an amide unit: design, synthesis and biological activity studies

Abstract Pest disasters which occurs on crops is a serious problem that not only cause crop yield loss or even crop failure but can also spread a number of plant diseases.Sulfonate derivatives have been widely used in insecticide and fungicide research in recent years. On this basis, a series of sulfonate derivatives bearing an amide unit are synthesized and the biological activities are evaluated. The bioassay results showed that compounds A 8 , A 13 , A 16 , B 1 , B 3 , B 4 , B 5 , B 10 , B 12 − 20 , C 3 , C 5 , C 9 , C 10 , C 14 , C 15 , C 17 and C 19 showed 100% activity at a concentration of 500 µg/mL against the Plutella xylostella (P. xylostella). Among them, B 15 which contains a thiadiazole sulfonate structure still shows 100% activity at 50 µg/mL concentration against P. xylostella and had the lowest median lethal concentration (LC50) (7.61 µg/mL) among the target compounds. Further mechanism studies are conducted on compounds with better insecticidal activity. Molecular docking results shows that B 15 formed hydrophobic interactions π-π and hydrogen bonds with the indole ring of Trp532 and the carboxyl group of Asp384, respectively, with similar interaction distances or bond lengths as those of diflubenzuron. Moreover, chitinase inhibition assays are performed to further demonstrate its mode of action. In addition, the anti-bacterial activity of the series of compounds is also tested and the results showed that the series of compounds has moderate biological activity against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc), with inhibition rates of 91%, 92% and 92%, 88% at the concentration of 100 µg/mL, respectively. Our study indicates that B 15 can be used as a novel insecticide for crop protection. Graphical Abstract