Preparation and Anti-Tobacco Mosaic Virus Activities of Crocetin Diesters

Abstract

The development of antiviral agents with an original structure and noticeable effect is always in great need. Natural products are important lead compounds in the development of new pesticides. Crocin-1 and crocin-2 were effectively isolated from Gardeniae fructus and found to have higher anti-tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) activity levels than ribavirin. A series of the crocetin diester derivatives were synthesized with separated crocetin-1 as material and evaluated for their anti-TMV activities. They could be dissolved in common organic solvents as dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran, and methanol. Compounds 5, 9, 13, 14, and 15 displayed higher activities in vivo than ribavirin. Compound 14 with significantly higher antiviral activities than lead compounds (crocin-1 and crocin-2) emerged as a new antiviral candidate.

Recent Achievements in Antiviral Agent Development for Plant Protection

“…The crocin-1 and crocin-2 are natural occurrences that were first isolated from Gardeniae fructus and have exhibited good anti-TMV activities . However, the agricultural application of the crocin-1 and crocin-2 has been significantly limited from their poor solubility. − Therefore, Wang and co-workers synthesized a series of fat-soluble crocetin diesters to improve the solubility. Through the antiviral activity test, the compound 108 showed higher inactive, curative, and protective effects against TMV (51.6%, 53.3%, and 47.0% at 500 μg/mL) than ribavirin (38.1%, 39.8%, and 39.0% at 500 μg/mL).…”

Discovery of Novel α-Aminophosphonates with Hydrazone as Potential Antiviral Agents Combined With Active Fragment and Molecular Docking

“…In 2019-2021, Song Baoan's group mainly designed and synthesized antiviral compounds based on active fragments through in vitro activity screening by microscale thermophoresis (MST) (He et al, 2019;Zan et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2021). During the same period, Wang Qingming's group mainly designed and synthesized new and efficient antiviral lead compounds based on natural products through traditional in vivo activity screening by using the half leaf dry spot method (Li et al, 2019;Hao et al, 2020a;Chen et al, 2020;Li et al, 2021). Then, the primary action mechanism of antiviral agents was studied by the vivo interaction of viral coat protein and drug molecules.…”