Total Synthesis,Stereochemical Assignment,and Field‐Testing of the Sex Pheromone of the Strepsipteran Xenos peckii |
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Authors: | Dr Huimin Zhai Michael Hrabar Regine Gries Prof Gerhard Gries Prof Robert Britton |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada;2. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada |
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Abstract: | The sex pheromone of the endoparasitoid insect Xenos peckii (Strepsiptera: Xenidae) was recently identified as (7E,11E)‐3,5,9,11‐tetramethyl‐7,11‐tridecadienal. Herein we report the asymmetric synthesis of three candidate stereostructures for this pheromone using a synthetic strategy that relies on an sp3–sp2 Suzuki–Miyaura coupling to construct the correctly configured C7‐alkene function. Comparison of 1H NMR spectra derived from the candidate stereostructures to that of the natural sex pheromone indicated a relative configuration of (3R*,5S*,9R*). Chiral gas chromatographic (GC) analyses of these compounds supported an assignment of (3R,5S,9R) for the natural product. Furthermore, in a 16‐replicate field experiment, traps baited with the synthetic (3R,5S,9R)‐enantiomer alone or in combination with the (3S,5R,9S)‐enantiomer captured 23 and 18 X. peckii males, respectively (mean±SE: 1.4±0.33 and 1.1±0.39), whereas traps baited with the synthetic (3S,5R,9S)‐enantiomer or a solvent control yielded no captures of males. These strong field trapping data, in combination with spectroscopic and chiral GC data, unambiguously demonstrate that (3R,5S,9R,7E,11E)‐3,5,9,11‐tetramethyl‐7,11‐tridecadienal is the X. peckii sex pheromone. |
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Keywords: | insect pheromone natural products stereochemical assignment Suzuki– Miyaura Xenos peckii |
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