Design, synthesis, bioactivity and action mechanism of N-substituted N'-phenylpicolinohydrazides against phytopathogenic fungi.

N'-phenylpicolinohydrazide has been proven to be a promising lead compound for research and development of novel fungicides for agriculture in our previous study. As our continuing research, in this study, a series of N-substituted derivatives of N'-phenylpicolinohydrazide were synthesized and explored for the inhibition activity on nine phytopathogenic fungi and action mechanism. The results found that eleven of the compounds had excellent antifungal activity with more than 80% inhibition rates at 50 µg/mL on part or most of the fungi, especially A. solani and P. piricola. Compounds 5i, 5j and 5k showed EC50 values of < 8.0 µg/mL against A. solani superior to positive control carbendazim (EC50 = 36.0 µg/mL) while 5p and 5q exhibited the highest activity with EC50 values of 2.72 and 2.80 µg/mL against P. piricola superior to positive control boscalid (EC50 > 50.0 µg/mL). Furthermore, 5k also showed significant protective effect against A. solani infection on tomatoes in a concentration-dependent manner. Action mechanism research showed that 5k was able to increase the intracellular ROS level, change both MMP and permeability of cell membrane and damage mycelial morphology. Molecular docking studies showed that 5k could bind into ubiquinone-binding region of succinate dehydrogenase by hydrogen bonds, π-cation, π-π stacked, π-alkyl, and alkyl interactions. Additionally, the antibacterial activity was also investigated. Thus, N-substituted derivatives of N'-phenylpicolinohydrazide were emerged as novel and highly promising antifungal molecular skeletons to develop new fungicides for crop protection.

Novel insecticidal 1,6-dihydro-6-iminopyridazine derivatives as competitive antagonists of insect RDL GABA receptors.

BACKGROUND: The ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor (iGABAR) is an important target for insecticides and parasiticides. Our previous studies showed that competitive antagonists (CAs) of insect iGABARs have the potential to be used for developing novel insecticides and that the structural modification of gabazine (a representative CA of mammalian iGABARs) could lead to the identification of novel CAs of insect iGABARs. RESULTS: In the present study, a novel series of 1,3-di- and 1,3,5-trisubstituted 1,6-dihydro-6-iminopyridazines (DIPs) was designed using a versatile strategy and synthesized using facile methods. Electrophysiological studies showed that several target DIPs (30 µM) exhibited excellent antagonistic activities against common cutworm and housefly iGABARs consisting of RDL subunits. The IC50 values of 3-(4-methoxyphenyl), 3-(4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl), 3-(4-biphenylylphenyl), 3-(2-naphthyl), 3-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl), and 3,5-(4-methoxyphenyl) analogs ranged from 2.2 to 24.8 µM. Additionally, several 1,3-disubstituted DIPs, especially 3-(4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl) and 3-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl) analogs, exhibited moderate insecticidal activity against common cutworm larvae, with >60% mortality at a concentration of 100 mg kg-1 . Molecular docking studies showed that the oxygen atom on the three-substituted aromatic ring could form a hydrogen bond with Arg254, which may enhance the activity of these DIPs against housefly iGABARs. CONCLUSION: This systematic study indicated that the presence of a carboxyl side chain shorter by one methylene than that of gabazine at the 1-position of the pyridazine ring is effective for maintaining the stable binding of these DIPs in insect iGABARs. Our study provides important information for the design of novel insect iGABAR CAs. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.