Chapter 45: Eliminate cockroaches and turn them into protected animals!
"Pheromones?"
Inside the office.
Looking at Tian Liangwei who looked surprised, Xu Yun nodded affirmatively:
"Yes, I think the entry point of the fourth generation imidacloprid is pheromones."
Tian Liangwei pushed up his glasses slightly, his expression a little dignified and confused:
"Tell me more about it? Xiao Xu, don't tell me. The method you mentioned is to simply mix the ingredients of pheromones and imidacloprid - I can buy you two moth pheromone sticky boards on Taobao for ten yuan. Ten pieces come back.”
Pheromones are also called pheromones.
It refers to substances secreted out of the body by one individual and detected by other individuals of the same species through their olfactory organs, causing the latter to show certain behavioral, emotional, psychological or physiological changes.
For example, human adults emit pheromones, and there is even a perfume called pheromones for sale.
There is still controversy in the scientific community about the specific composition of human pheromones, but the substances with higher acceptance are androdiene for men and estradienol for women.
The areas with the richest pheromones are in the armpits and crotch. You can smell the smell in these two places to see if it is different from the smell in other parts of the body.
When Xu Yun was in high school, a friend always said that there was a girl in the class who smelled good. Out of curiosity, Xu Yun tried to take a breath while lining up for exercises during recess.
Good guy, a faint body odor.
This is the difference in pheromone feedback. People who like it are particularly fond of it, while people who are indifferent are particularly disgusted.
So in a sense, "Your armpits smell so good" is actually a love saying.
In the field of insect pests, insect pheromones are used in a wide range of applications.
The advantage of pheromones is that they are highly targetable, do not harm natural enemies, and have no risk of pesticide residues. The disadvantage is that they are highly targetable and are ineffective against other pests. They are only effective against adults and not against larvae.
Therefore, pheromones currently have relatively high limitations and can be regarded as an auxiliary means.
That is to say, use this thing to attract the bugs, and then trap them with sticky boards or boxes before proceeding to the next step.
The most advanced one is to mix pheromones and biological poisons together, mix them together like dough, and then attract the target to eat the poison
Faced with Tian Liangwei's concerns, Xu Yun first poured him a cup of tea and then said:
"Teacher, I understand what you mean. Don't worry, I am not taking advantage of that kind of conceptual loophole."
Then he took out a pen and paper from his body and explained while writing:
“My idea is whether it is possible to combine pheromones and imidacloprid into a new powerful poison through some kind of synthetic technology?
For example, it not only has the attraction function of pheromones, but also has the multi-generation transmission effect of imidacloprid? That is to say, the pheromone will spread with the diffusion of imidacloprid? ”
Looking at the few lines Xu Yun wrote on the paper, Tian Liangwei vaguely understood:
"Synthesizing new poisons? I seem to understand what you mean.
Ordinary hybrid drugs use pheromones to attract the target, causing it to swallow the poison and then spread the infection. However, because it does not carry pheromones, the effect curve of multiple rounds of transmission is generally not ideal.
And Xiao Xu, your idea is to make the poison also have the effect of pheromones. After the target leaves the bait, it becomes a new bait that emits pheromones, and can even be passed on for multiple generations? ”
Xu Yun nodded and affirmed:
"Yes, this is the direction I think the fourth or even fifth generation imidacloprid will take."
Tian Liangwei pursed his lips and thought carefully, but the expression on his face was still a little optimistic:
"Theoretically it seems feasible, but technically there are many problems that need to be solved.
First of all, it has a single target. The pheromone of an insect can only be effective on adults of that species. For example, the moth sticky board I mentioned before can only capture moths, but other flies and mosquitoes cannot be captured at all.
The second is that synthesis requires breaking through the corresponding information barriers, which is really difficult, otherwise well-known companies or laboratories would have developed it long ago. ”
As he spoke, Tian Liangwei couldn't help shaking his head.
As he said, almost all pheromone poisons currently available are made through physical mixtures.
This production method cannot be said to be stupid, but because they cannot synthesize pheromones and biological poisons into a completely new substance.
As an authoritative expert in domestic biological hospitals, Tian Liangwei naturally knows how difficult it is to synthesize pheromones and biological poisons. Currently, companies such as Bayer, Pfizer, Roche, and Novartis are conducting research in this direction.
This kind of technological breakthrough will not make much waves in the scientific community, let alone the Nobel Prize, even the Karif Prize or the Lasker Prize, but the market mapped behind it is not a small number.
Of course.
Most of the binding targets in these laboratories are not imidacloprid, but the third generation dinotefuran.
After all, in those cutting-edge laboratories, comparing imidacloprid to dinotefuran is like Aoi comparing to Mr. Mikami, a concept that does not belong to the same era.
Looking at Tian Liangwei who was thinking of some bad memories, Xu Yun seemed very calm. He wrote another line of words on the paper:
"Teacher, look at this."
Tian Liangwei subconsciously looked at the paper. After a while, he said hesitantly:
"Is this a methylated alkane?"
Xu Yun nodded and drew a horizontal line in the middle of one of the CH3s, which meant erasing it.
Tian Liangwei let out a light sigh:
"Monochiral methyl?"
Xu Yun continued to write a line of words:
CH3(CH2)2CH=CHCH=CH(CH2)8CH3, [Ru(p-cymene)_2Cl_2]_2, (HCHO)n, ZnBr_2, CH_3COON, DCE(CH2CLCH2CL), and a pyridine functional group.
"Teacher, do you think this reaction can be successful?"
Looking at the line written by Xu Yun, Tian Liangwei was stunned for a moment, then took the pen and quickly calculated it on the paper and in his mind:
"Remove one CH3C-H bond for cyclization. Directly cut off the carbon-hydrogen bond of the substrate through transition metal catalysis?
The directing group forms the intermediate C-M? It seems that it can really form selective hydroxymethylation with pyridine? ”
As everyone knows.
Hydroxymethylated functional groups are widely found in drugs and biologically active small molecules. They perform nucleophilic addition to aldehydes to obtain corresponding alcohols, ethers or ester products.
If you remove a CH3 in the upper right corner of the pheromone alkane, it can theoretically form a compound with pyridine under the catalysis of ruthenium.
Of course.
This is only a derivation possibility, and its operation is extremely uncertain.
Looking at the teacher whose expression became increasingly serious, Xu Yun continued:
"As for your first point, it is true that pheromones have a drawback.
There is always only one kind of target for a pheromone. A moth is a moth, and a fruit fly is a fruit fly. They cannot communicate with each other. No one can change this.
So why don't we just do a targeted screening? ”
"Targeted screening?"
Tian Liangwei raised his eyelids, looked at Xu Yundao:
"What does this mean?"
"Just study one direction and ignore the others."
Xu Yun spread his hands towards his teacher and said with a smile:
"The entire field of biotoxicants is so vast that we do not need to and cannot cover it all. In this case, why don't we choose a relatively harmful pest and develop a targeted and effective insecticide?"
"It is true that there are many pests in agriculture. If you kill wireworms, there will also be lamp moths, and if you kill the lamp moths, there will also be cotton bolls. If you don't eliminate them all, it will be difficult for agricultural products to completely get rid of pests and diseases. But apart from agriculture, in our daily life, There are also many pests. Killing one of these pests is a big problem, and the cost-effectiveness is much higher than in agriculture.”
"Once this new compound can be produced, a certain pest may be eliminated and turned into a protected animal that the next generation can only see in the zoo."
"For example."
"Cockroach!"(End of Chapter)