A New Route to 3-Phenoxybenzyl cis (±) 2,2-Dimethyl-3-(2-Phenyl-2-Chlorovinyl) Cyclopropanecarboxylate

Abstract

Synthetic pyrethroids belong to an almost ideal group of modern insecticides due to their high insecticidal activity, low mammalian toxicity and rapid biodegradability.¹ While several pyrethroids with potent insecticidal action have been synthesized, search for analogues with high photostability and other pesticidal activity continues. In this connection some esters of 2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-phenyl-2-chlorovinyl) cyclopropane-carboxylic acid have recently been reported to have good acaricidal activity^2–4 as well. Structure-activity relationship reveals that for the synthetic pyrethroids, esters of cis-substituted cyclopropanecarboxylic acid show far superior activity compared to the corresponding trans-isomer. Most of the methods described in the literature⁵ lead to a mixture of cis and trans-substituted cyclopropanecarboxylic acids.