Synthesis of 2-amino-6-oxocyclohexenylsulfonamides and their activity against Botrytis cinerea

BACKGROUND: With the objective of exploring the fungicidal activity of 2‐oxocyclohexylsulfonamides (2), a series of novel 2‐amino‐6‐oxocyclohexenylsulfonamides (6 to 23) were synthesised, and their fungicidal activities against Botrytis cinerea Pers. were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: The compounds were characterised by IR, ¹H NMR and elemental analysis. Bioassay results of mycelial growth showed that compounds 6 to 23 had a moderate antifungal activity against B. cinerea. N‐(2‐methylphenyl)‐2‐(2‐methylphenylamino)‐4,4‐dimethyl‐6‐oxocyclohexenylsulfonamide (13) and N‐(2‐chlorophenyl)‐2‐(2‐chlorophenylamino)‐6‐oxocyclohexenylsulfonamide (21) showed best antifungal activities, with EC₅₀ values of 8.05 and 10.56 µg mL^?1 respectively. Commercial fungicide procymidone provided an EC₅₀ value of 0.63 µg mL^?1. The conidial germination assay showed that most of compounds 6 to 23 possessed excellent inhibition of spore germination and germ‐tube elongation of conidia of B. cinerea. For in vivo control of B. cinerea colonising cucumber leaves, the compound N‐cyclohexyl‐2‐(cyclohexylamino)‐4,4‐dimethyl‐6‐oxocyclohexenylsulfonamide (19) showed a better control effect than the commercial fungicide procymidone. CONCLUSION: The present work demonstrated that 2‐amino‐6‐oxocyclohexenylsulfonamides can be used as possible new lead compounds for further developing novel fungicides against B. cinerea. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry