Synthesis of insecticidal sucrose esters

Abstract

Some synthetic sucrose esters (SE) are a relatively new class of insecticidal compounds produced by reacting sugars with fatty acids, which are safe for the environment. Especially, sucrose esters composed of C6–C12 fatty acids have desirable insecticidal properties against many soft-bodied arthropod pests. In our study, sucrose octanoate which has the highest activity against a range of arthropod species was synthesized by a trans-esterification method and proved its insecticidal property. Under the condition of a homogeneous liquid, sucrose octanoate was prepared by reacting ethyl octanoate with sucrose at reduced pressure; the yield was 79.11%. Sucrose octanoate synthesized was identified and its property analyzed by IR, TLC and spectrophotometric analysis. It was shown that the ratio of monoester to polyester in sucrose octanoate was 1.48:1. The insecticidal activity of the synthetic sucrose octanoate was evaluated at a concentration of 4 and 8 mg·mL−1. The mortality of first-instar larvae of Lymantria dispar from its contact toxicity was 72.5% after 36 hours, the revision insect reduced rate of Aphis glycines reached above 80% at 4 and 8 mg·mL−1 after being treated for 5 days. Since the SE products are nontoxic to humans and higher animals, fully biodegradable and hydrolyzed to readily metabolizable sucrose and fatty acid, they are not harmful to crops and appear to be good insecticide candidates.