Reimer-Tiemann adducts as potential insect antifeedant agents Reviewing the structure-activity relationship theory of the antifeedant, warburganal.

Structure-activity relationships of naturally occurring enedials with antifeedant activity againstSpodoptera species have been extended via the synthesis and bioassay of a series of Reimer-Tiemann adducts. The activities attributed to the different chemical structures of these and other analogs interacting with the chemoreceptor site have been observed; a three-pronged mode of substrate binding via aromatic pyrrole formation, Michael addition of free sulfhydryl moieties, and van der Waals interactions of the A ring has been postulated to account for these observations.