Design, synthesis, and insecticidal activity of some novel diacylhydrazine and acylhydrazone derivatives

In this study a series of diacylhydrazine and acylhydrazone derivatives were designed and synthesized according to the method of active group combination and the principles of aromatic group bioisosterism. The structures of the novel derivatives were determined on the basis on 1H-NMR, IR and ESI-MS spectral data. All of the compounds were evaluated for their in vivo insecticidal activity against the third instar larvae of Spodoptera exigua Hiibner, Helicoverpa armigera Hubner, Plutella xyllostella Linnaeus and Pieris rapae Linne, respectively, at a concentration of 10 mg/L. The results showed that all of the derivatives displayed high insecticidal activity. Most of the compounds presented higher insecticidal activity against S. exigua than the reference compounds tebufenozide, metaflumizone and tolfenpyrad, and approximately identical insecticidal activity against H. armigera, P. xyllostella and P. rapae as the references metaflumizone and tolfenpyrad.