Abstract:
In order to explore novel green fungicides, 30 new vanillin sulfate derivatives were designed and synthesized using vanillin—a natural product with promising biological activity—as the lead compound. The structures of all compounds were confirmed by
1H NMR,
13C NMR, and HRMS. The inhibitory effects of the target compounds against
Rhizoctonia solani,
Phytophthora capsici,
Valsa mali,
Botryosphaeria dothidea,
Botrytis cinerea, and
Fusarium graminearum were evaluated using the mycelial growth rate method. The results indicated that all target compounds exhibited inhibitory activities against the tested pathogens at a concentration of 50 μg/mL. Notably, compounds
1s (
O-(4-formyl-2-methoxy) phenyl-
O'-(4-iodo) phenyl sulfate),
1u (
O-(4-formyl-2-methoxy) phenyl-
O'-(4-trifluoromethyl) phenyl sulfate), and
1x (
O-(4-formyl-2-methoxy) phenyl-
O'-(2-bromo-4-fluoro) phenyl sulfate) showed significant activity against
V. mali, with EC
50 values of 1.24, 5.04, and 4.55 μg/mL, respectively. Their antifungal activity was comparable to that of the commercial control fungicide carbendazim. Compound
1s possesses advantages such as high activity, simple structure, and ease of synthesis, making it a promising lead compound for further structural optimization in the development of novel fungicides.