To develop novel antiviral agents,
some novel conjugates between
ferulic acid and eugenol or isoeugenol were designed and synthesized
by the link reaction. The antiviral activities of compounds were evaluated
using the half leaf dead spot method. Bioassay results showed acceptable
antiviral activities of some conjugates against the tobacco mosaic
virus (TMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Compounds A9, A10, E1, and E4 showed remarkable
curative, protective, and inactivating effects on TMV and CMV at 500
μg mL–1. Notably, these compounds exhibited
excellent protective effects on TMV and CMV. The EC50 values
of compounds A9, A10, E1, and E4 against TMV were 180.5, 169.5, 211.4, and 135.5 μg
mL–1, respectively, and those against CMV were 210.5,
239.1, 218.4, and 178.6 μg mL–1, respectively,
which were superior to those of ferulic acid (471.5 and 489.2 μg
mL–1), eugenol (456.3 and 463.2 μg mL–1), isoeugenol (478.4 and 487.5 μg mL–1), and ningnanmycin (246.5 and 286.6 μg mL–1). Then, the antiviral mechanisms of compound E4 were
investigated by determining defensive enzyme activities and multi-omics
analysis. The results indicated that compound E4 resisted
the virus infection by enhancing defensive responses via inducing the accumulation of secondary metabolites from the phenylpropanoid
biosynthesis pathway in tobacco.