Ethyl (E)-3,5-ethano-7,11-dimethyl-2,4-dodecadienoate,A new insect growth regulator with potent juvenile hormone activity

A number of analogs of ethyl (2E,4E)-3,7,11-trimethyl-2,4-dodecadienoate were prepared and bioassayed for juvenile hormone activity on the yellow-fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella), the yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), the house fly (Musca domestica), and the tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens). The analog ethyl (E)-3,5-ethanol-7,11-dimethyl-2,4-dodecadienoate (VI), containing a cyclopentene ring, showed remarkable potency on the above insect species. Since this compound possesses a fixed 3-s-trans-diene conformation it may provide some insight into the active conformation of bound 2,4-dienoate analogs.