2. Academic Validation
  3. Anti-insect activity of benzylacetone and its structural analogues against Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Anti-insect activity of benzylacetone and its structural analogues against Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

  • Toxicon. 2025 Jul:261:108378. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108378.
Yueqiang Xin 1,  Zexu Pan 1,  Yangshan Liu 1,  Xiang Ji 1,  Yanjun Hao 2,  Hongyan Cao 3,  Yuli Sang 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 College of Pharmacy, Liaoning University, No.66 Middle Chongshan Road, Shenyang, 110036, Liaoning, China.
  • 2 Liaoning Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No.79 East Chongshan Road, Shenyang, 110847, Liaoning, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 3 Shandong Center For Food and Drug Evaluation & Inspection, No.6 Keyuan Road, Jinan, 250014, Shandong, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4 College of Pharmacy, Liaoning University, No.66 Middle Chongshan Road, Shenyang, 110036, Liaoning, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 40311817 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108378
Abstract

Several studies have confirmed that the volatile oil of Rhododendron anthopogonoides Maxim has good anti-insect activity and is expected to become an environmentally friendly botanical Insecticide, with benzylacetone as its main active component. Benzylacetone has a simple chemical structure, containing only three elements of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, low toxicity, and easy degradation. Therefore, in this study, benzylacetone and its seven structural analogues were selected for testing their anti-insect activity to Tribolium castaneum Herbst (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), in order to explore the key structural sites where benzylacetone plays a role in combating T. castaneum. Benzylacetone demonstrated better repellent activity compared to the positive control pyrethroid, and when the single bonds at positions 3 and 4 were transformed into double bonds, the percent repellency increased. Additionally, the fumigation activity of benzylacetone exhibited a concentration-dependent trend and was significantly higher than that of the positive control pyrethroid. After losing two methylene groups at positions 3 and 4, the LC50 decreased to 13.10 mg/L air, which was approximately 9.4 times lower than that of benzylacetone. In terms of contact activity against T. castaneum, benzylacetone was about 2 times more effective than pyrethroids. Moreover, when the single bond at positions 3 and 4 became a double bond, the contact mortality was 2.5 times higher than that of benzylacetone, and the LD50 reached 10.47 μg/adult. Based on the results of repellent, fumigation, and contact toxicity experiments, it was found that the side chains of benzylacetone, carbonyl groups on the side chains, and benzene ring unsubstituted were the key structures for its prevention and control against T. castaneum. This study is an exploration of the structure-activity relationship of benzylacetone in the anti-insect of T. castaneum, providing ideas for its structural modification.

Keywords

Anti-insect; Benzylacetone; Natural products; Structure-activity relationships; Tribolium castaneum.

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