New α-Methylene-γ-Butyrolactone Derivatives as Potential Fungicidal Agents: Design, Synthesis and Antifungal Activities

Abstract

In consideration of the fact that the α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone moiety is a major bio-functional group in the structure of carabrone and possesses some agricultural biological activity, forty-six new ester and six new ether derivatives containing α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone moieties were synthesized, and their fungicidal activities against Colletotrichum lagenarium and Botrytis cinerea were investigated. Most of the synthesized compounds showed moderate to significant fungicidal activity. Among them, halogen atom-containing derivatives showed better activity than others, especially compounds 6a, d which exhibited excellent fungicidal activity against C. lagenarium, with IC ₅₀ values of 7.68 and 8.17 μM. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis indicated that ester derivatives with electron-withdrawing groups on the benzene ring showed better fungicidal activity than those with electron-donating groups. A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model ( R ² = 0.9824, F = 203.01, S ² = 0.0083) was obtained through the heuristic method. The built model revealed a strong correlation of fungicidal activity against C. lagenarium with the molecular structures of these compounds. These results are expected to prove helpful in the design and exploration of low toxicity and high efficiency α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone-based fungicides.