Progress on the synthesis of sex pheromones of Hyphantria cunea

The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, is a significant worldwide pest, and its sex pheromone includes two alkenals and three epoxy olefins, which can be used to trap H. cunea and monitor population dynamics, and have a promising application. According to the synthesis of aldehyde, the preparations of alkenals include biomimetic synthesis, Weinreb amide method, enzyme catalyzed reaction, iridium-catalyzed hydrosilylation of esters, or cobalt-catalyzed hydrosilylation of esters; whereas on the basis of the linking approaches of key intermediates, the synthetic methods of epoxy olefins, such as thiocyanatocuprate method, Wittig coupling, alkynyl lithium reagent substitution, Gilman reagent substitution and alkylative epoxide rearrangement, were summarized.