The repellency of dihydronepetalactone diastereomers

ORGN 78

Mark A. Scialdone, Mark.A.Scialdone@usa.dupont.com, DuPont Central Research & Development, P.O. Box 80328 Experimental Station, Wilmington, DE 19880-0328
The use of insect repellents can play a key role in the prevention of insect-borne illnesses in humans and animals such as West Nile Virus and Malaria. In spite of the widespread use of N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET)-containing insect repellents, the search for new effective repellents active against a wide diversity of insect species continues to be an active area of research. One approach involves the exploitation of naturally-derived repellents such as the monoterpene nepetalactone found in the essential oil of the catmint plant. Hydrogenation of catmint oil converts the nepetalactone diastereomers present into a mixture dihydronepetalactone (DHN) diastereomers and the product obtained is a safe and effective insect repellent for human topical use. The synthesis and repellency of the major DHN diastereomers present in hydrogenated catmint oil will be presented and discussed.
 

Physical Organic Chemistry, Combinatorial and Process Chemistry, New Reactions and Methodology, Peptides, Proteins and Amino Acids
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Sci-Mix

Division of Organic Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008