SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITY OF FURANYL ANTI-JUVENILE HORMONAL COMPOUNDS

Twenty-one synthetic compounds, containing one or more furan rings, we re demonstrated to possess anti-juvenile hormone (AJH) activity as evi denced by their induction of premature metamorphosis in the milkweed b ug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) by contact, topical application or f umigation. The ED(50) of the four most active analogs required to indu ce precocious metamorphosis from 3rd-instar nymphs by residue contact in a Petri dish compared favorably with that of precocene II (6,7-dime thoxy-2,2-dimethyl 2H-chromene) a naturally occurring phytochemical AJ H. Precocious metamorphosis was fully reversible by co-treatment with juvenile hormone (JH III) or JH analogs, demonstrating that the observ ed AJH activity resulted from an induced deficiency of juvenile hormon e.