Structure-activity relationship observations for the bagworm moth pheromone.

Structure-activity relationship (SAR) observations were made for the bagworm moth pheromone, (R)-2-pentyl decanoate, and a series of analogs with modifications in the alcohol portion of the molecule. Observed attractiveness of these analogs was related to molecular structure and their physical attributes using computational chemistry. Electrostatic potential and Van der Waals (VdW) electrostatic coded surface three-dimensional (3D) maps of the molecular mechanics (MM) minimized lowest energy conformation of the pheromone show that size, shape, charge distribution, and chirality of the molecule are related to attractiveness.