To discover novel natural-product-based insecticide candidates, herein, a variety of osthole-derived N-benzoylthioureas were synthesized and assessed for their insecticidal activities against three insect pests. An insecticidal assay showed that most of the target osthole-derived N-benzoylthioureas displayed a more potent and broad-spectrum insecticidal effect than the parent osthole after the introduction of N-benzoylthioureas on the C-3' position of osthole. Compound B24 displayed the most potent growth inhibitory (GI) effect on Mythimna separata Walker, with a final corrected mortality rate of 82.1% when treated with a concentration of 1 mg/mL, which was 1.64- and 1.53-fold higher in comparison to osthole and the botanical insecticide toosendanin, respectively. Compounds B22, B23, and B25 displayed a more promising aphicidal effect on Myzus persicae Sulzer, and their LD50 values were 0.015, 0.017, and 0.019 μg/larvae, respectively, superior to the commercially available insecticide rotenone (0.024 μg/larvae). Derivatives B19, B20, B23, and B25 displayed more potent larvicidal activity against Plutella xylostella Linnaeus, with LC50 values of 0.22, 0.26, 0.15, and 0.30 mg/mL, respectively, exceeding that of rotenone (0.37 mg/mL). Furthermore, both compounds B19 and B23 against P. xylostella were found to be more effective than rotenone in a control efficacy assay under greenhouse conditions. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) suggested that osthole-derived N-benzoylthioureas are more active in most cases when the R group is an electron-withdrawing group than when it is an electron-donating group, especially for halogenated groups. Additionally, the potent compounds B19 and B23 possessed good selectivity and were less toxic to non-target organisms. This study suggests that these osthole-derived N-benzoylthioureas could be further studied in depth as eco-friendly natural product pesticides in crop protection.
Keywords: N-benzoylthioureas; control efficacy; insecticidal activity; osthole; toxicity.