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Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Organic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 6851

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pei Li

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Guest Editor

Qiandongnan Engineering and Technology Research Center for Comprehensive Utilization of National Medicine, Kaili University, Kaili, China
Interests: pesticide synthesis; fungicide; natural product; organic synthesis; green pesticide
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global food safety/security will remain a worldwide concern for the next 50 years and beyond. Plant bacterial and fungal diseases have had an enormous impact on food safety/security at various stages of the food chain, from primary production to consumption. Although pesticide application has been the conventional methodology used in plant protection, frequent use of conventional chemical pesticides has resulted in problems in resistance in bacteria and fungi populations, environmental contamination, and human health. Therefore, the current paradigm of relying almost exclusively on conventional chemical pesticides for plant bacterial and fungal disease control may need to be reconsidered. In the past decade, due to the good selectivity, high activity, low dosage, and low toxicity, heterocyclic compounds show an important role in the development of novel heterocyclic pesticides. So far, more than 50 heterocyclic pesticides have been developed or even marketed. Therefore, the important position of heterocyclic chemistry in the pesticides market is supposed to remain in the following decades.

This Special Issue of Molecules invites researchers to contribute original research papers or reviews in the field of design, synthesis, bioactivity, mechanism of action, and so on of heterocyclic pesticides.

Prof. Dr. Pei Li
Guest Editor

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Keywords

heterocyclic chemistry
heterocyclic pesticides
design
synthesis
bioactivity
mechanism of action

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 4068 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis, Structure and Antibacterial Activity of Two Novel Coordination Polymers Based on N,N′-bis(4-carbozvlbenzvl)-4-aminotoluene and Heterocyclic Ligand against S. aureus

by Ziyun Wang, Lun Zhao, Hongwei Jing, Guanying Song and Jiayu Li

Molecules 2024, 29(9), 1990; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29091990 - 26 Apr 2024

Viewed by 294

Abstract

As the use of antibiotics increases, the increasing resistance of bacteria is the main reason for the reduced efficiency of antibacterial drugs, making the research of new antibacterial materials become new hot spot. In this article, two novel coordination polymers (CPs), namely, [Cd₂(L)₂(bibp)₂]_n (1) and [Ni(L)(bib)]_n (2), where H₂L = N,N′-bis(4-carbozvlbenzvl)-4-aminotoluene, bibp = 4,4′-bis(imidazol-1-yl)biphenyl, and bib = 1,3-bis(1-imidazoly)benzene, have been synthesized under solvothermal and hydrothermal condition. Structural clarification was performed through infrared spectrum and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, while thermal analysis and XRD technology were used for the performance assessment of compounds 1 and 2. In addition, antibacterial performance experiments showed that compounds 1 and 2 have certain selectivity in their antibacterial properties and have good antibacterial properties against S. aureus. As the concentration of the compound increases, the inhibitory effect gradually strengthens, and when the concentration of the compound reaches 500 μg/mL and 400 μg/mL, the concentration of the S. aureus solution no longer increases and has been completely inhibited. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity)

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13 pages, 1645 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis, Antifungal, and Antibacterial Activities of Novel Benzoylurea Derivatives Containing a Pyrimidine Moiety

by Jiansong An, Wenjun Lan, Qiang Fei, Pei Li and Wenneng Wu

Molecules 2023, 28(18), 6498; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28186498 - 07 Sep 2023

Viewed by 878

Abstract

To explore more efficient and less toxic antibacterial and antifungal pesticides, we utilized 2,6-difluorobenzamide as a starting material and ultimately synthesized 23 novel benzoylurea derivatives containing a pyrimidine moiety. Their structures were characterized and confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, and HRMS. The bioassay results demonstrated that some of the title compounds exhibited moderate to good in vitro antifungal activities against Botrytis cinerea in cucumber, Botrytis cinerea in tobacco, Botrytis cinerea in blueberry, Phomopsis sp., and Rhizoctonia solani. Notably, compounds 4j and 4l displayed EC₅₀ values of 6.72 and 5.21 μg/mL against Rhizoctonia solani, respectively, which were comparable to that of hymexazol (6.11 μg/mL). Meanwhile, at 200 and 100 concentrations, the target compounds 4a–4w exhibited lower in vitro antibacterial activities against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola and Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri, respectively, compared to those of thiodiazole copper. Furthermore, the molecular docking simulation demonstrated that compound 4l formed hydrogen bonds with SER-17 and SER-39 of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), providing a possible explanation for the mechanism of action between the target compounds and SDH. This study represents the first report on the antifungal and antibacterial activities of novel benzoylurea derivatives containing a pyrimidine moiety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity)

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14 pages, 2996 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design, Catalyst-Free Synthesis of New Novel α-Trifluoromethylated Tertiary Alcohols Bearing Coumarins as Potential Antifungal Agents

by Shengfei Jiang, Guoyu Yang, Lijun Shi, Liangxin Fan, Zhenliang Pan, Caixia Wang, Xiaodan Chang, Bingyi Zhou, Meng Xu, Lulu Wu and Cuilian Xu

Molecules 2023, 28(1), 260; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010260 - 28 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1324

Abstract

A new method for the synthesis of α-trifluoromethylated tertiary alcohols bearing coumarins is described. The reaction of 3-(trifluoroacetyl)coumarin and pyrrole provided the target compounds with high yields under catalyst-free, mild conditions. The crystal structure of compound 3fa was investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis. The biological activities, such as in vitro antifungal activity of the α-trifluoromethylated tertiary alcohols against Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme, Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, and Phytophthora parasitica var nicotianae, were investigated. The bioassay results indicated that compounds 3ad, 3gd, and 3hd showed broad-spectrum antifungal activity in vitro. Compound 3cd exhibited excellent fungicidal activity against Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, with an EC₅₀ value of 10.9 μg/mL, which was comparable to that of commercial fungicidal triadimefon (EC₅₀ = 6.1 μg/mL). Furthermore, molecular docking study suggested that 3cd had high binding affinities with 1W9U, like argifin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity)

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13 pages, 1186 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Establishment of an LC-MS/MS Method for the Determination of 45 Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables from Fujian, China

by Kunming Zheng, Xiaoping Wu, Jiannan Chen, Jinxing Chen, Wenhao Lian, Jianfeng Su and Lihong Shi

Molecules 2022, 27(24), 8674; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27248674 - 08 Dec 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1519

Abstract

Pesticide residues in food have become an important factor seriously threatening human health. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables commonly found in Fujian, China, with the aim of constructing a simple and rapid method for pesticide residue monitoring. We collected 5607 samples from local markets and analyzed them for the presence of 45 pesticide residues. A fast, easy, inexpensive, effective, robust, and safe (QuEChERS) multi-residue extraction method followed by liquid chromatography equipped with triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was successfully established. This 12-min-long analytical method detects and quantifies pesticide residues with acceptable validation performance parameters in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, linearity, the limit of quantification, accuracy, and precision. The linear range of the calibration curves ranged from 5 to 200 mg/L, the limits of detection for all pesticides ranged from 0.02 to 1.90 μg/kg, and the limits of quantification for the pesticides were 10 μg/kg. The recovery rates for the three levels of fortification ranged from 72.0% to 118.0%, with precision values (expressed as RSD%) less than 20% for all of the investigated analytes. The results showed that 726 (12.95%) samples were contaminated with pesticide residues, 94 (1.68%) samples exceeded the maximum residue limit (MRL) of the national standard (GB 2763-2021, China), 632 (11.23%) samples were contaminated with residues below the MRL, and 4881 (87.05%) samples were pesticide residue-free. In addition, the highest number of multiple pesticide residues was observed in bananas and peppers, which were contaminated with acetamiprid, imidacloprid, pyraclostrobin, and thiacloprid. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity)

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10 pages, 262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation and Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Four Common Vegetables and Risk Assessment of Dietary Exposure in Ceramic Capital, China

by Xingang Meng, Lu Wang, Niao Wang, Luting Chen and Qian Huang

Molecules 2022, 27(19), 6562; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27196562 - 04 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1348

Abstract

In order to understand the basic situation of pesticide residues in vegetables in China’s porcelain capital, four kinds of common vegetables on the market were selected in this study for detection and analysis of pesticide residues. The pesticide residues in vegetables were analyzed through sample selection, optimization of instrument and equipment conditions, and comparison of detection pass rates. The sampling locations were common vegetables purchasing places such as large and medium-sized supermarkets. QuEChERS method was used as the sample pretreatment, and gas chromatography (GC-MS/MS) was used for quantitative analysis. Finally, the exposure risk of pesticides was assessed according to the test results. The results showed that all the pesticides were detected in four kinds of vegetables, but the detected pesticides did not exceed the national standard (GB 2763-2014, China). Moreover, the target risk coefficient (THQ) and risk index (HI) values of four vegetables were less than one, indicating that the combined and toxic effect of pesticide residual mixed contamination was smaller in four vegetables. Therefore, there was no significant harm from people using these vegetables. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity)

Review

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14 pages, 604 KiB

Open AccessReview

Research Progress on Benzimidazole Fungicides: A Review

by Song Bai, Miaohe Zhang, Shouying Tang, Miao Li, Rong Wu, Suran Wan, Lijun Chen, Xian Wei and Feifei Li

Molecules 2024, 29(6), 1218; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29061218 - 08 Mar 2024

Viewed by 795

Abstract

Benzimidazole fungicides are a class of highly effective, low-toxicity, systemic broad-spectrum fungicides developed in the 1960s and 1970s, based on the fungicidal activity of the benzimidazole ring structure. They exhibit biological activities including anticancer, antibacterial, and antiparasitic effects. Due to their particularly outstanding antibacterial properties, they are widely used in agriculture to prevent and control various plant diseases caused by fungi. The main products of benzimidazole fungicides include benomyl, carbendazim, thiabendazole, albendazole, thiophanate, thiophanate-methyl, fuberidazole, methyl (1-{[(5-cyanopentyl)amino]carbonyl}-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl) carbamate, and carbendazim salicylate. This article mainly reviews the physicochemical properties, toxicological properties, disease control efficacy, and pesticide residue and detection technologies of the aforementioned nine benzimidazole fungicides and their main metabolite (2-aminobenzimidazole). On this basis, a brief outlook on the future research directions of benzimidazole fungicides is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances of Heterocyclic Chemistry with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity)

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