SESQUITERPENES OF LACTARIUS ORIGIN, ANTIFEEDANT STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY-RELATIONSHIPS

Antifeedant activity of 53 sesquiterpenes of Lactarius origin was meas ured against the storage pests Tribolium confusum, Trogoderma granariu m and Sitophilus granarius. The activities of the compounds are discus sed in relation to their structures and oxidation state. Conclusions c oncerning structure-activity relationships have been drawn. It was fou nd that compounds with lactarane and marasmane skeletons were more act ive than isolactaranes. Also an increasing number of hydroxyl groups p resent in a molecule decreased its activity. Generally compounds of na tural origin, with the exception of keto derivatives, possessed strong er activity than their chemically modified analogues.