Design, Synthesis, and Bioactivity of α-Ketoamide Derivatives Bearing a Vanillin Skeleton for Crop Diseases

Abstract

A series of novel α-ketoamide derivatives bearing a vanillin skeleton were designed and synthesized. Bioactivity tests on virus and bacteria were performed. The results indicated that some compounds exhibited excellent antitobacco mosaic virus (TMV) activities, such as compound <b>34</b> exhibited an inactivation activity of 90.1% and curative activity of 51.8% and compound <b>28</b> exhibited a curative activity of 54.8% at 500 μg mL^-1, which is equivalent to that of the commercial ningnanmycin (inactivation of 91.9% and curative of 51.9%). Moreover, the in vitro antibacterial activity test illustrated that compounds <b>2</b>, <b>22</b>, and <b>33</b> showed much higher activities than commercial thiodiazole copper, which could be used as lead compounds or potential candidates. The findings of transmission electron microscopy and molecular docking indicated that the synthesized compounds exhibited strong and significant binding affinity to the TMV coat protein and could obstruct the self-assembly and increment of TMV particles. This study revealed that α-ketoamide derivatives bearing a vanillin skeleton could be used as a novel potential pesticide for controlling the plant diseases.