Studies on the Phenylphenol Derivatives with Biological Activity

A number of compounds structurally related to phenylphenols were systematically synthesized as herbicides. Some of nitro-substituted derivatives show strong activity in pre-emergence test. The herbicidai activity of this series appears to relate with the pK-value of the compound.

Herbicidai activities of chloro-substituted phenylphenols were investigated. The derivatives of o-phenylpbenol and p-phenylphenol exhibited different selective toxicity between radish and rice, the latter appeared to have a specific inhibitory activity against the root growth of rice. As an attempt to analyze the correlation of herbicidai activity and chemical structure, the dissociation constant and the substituent constant π were applied in this investigation. The herbicidai activity correlated linearly with pK-value.