Abstract
Background:
Attempts to produce greener bromination of 2-acetyl 9
H
-fluorene with KBr+KBrO
3
reagent using fly-ash:H
2
O catalyst in aqueous media gave 9H-fluorenacylbromides. Generally, the halo-keto compounds possess insect antifeedant activities. Therefore, the insect antifeedant activities of these acyl bromides have been studied using 4
th
instar larvae
Achoea janata
L
against castor semilooper.
Methods:
Solvent free bromination method was used for synthesizing some 9H-fluorenacylbromides. They were characterized by UV, IR, NMR and mass spectroscopic data. Castor-leaf discs were used for evaluation of insect antifeedant activities of the synthesized acyl bromides.
Results:
The yields of synthesized acyl bromides were over 60%. The physical constants, analytical and spectral data of these ketones has been determined. Halo substituted acyl bromides gave good insect antifeedant activities.
Conclusion:
Easy handling, non-hazardous and environmentally benign bromination methods have been adopted for synthesizing acyl bromides with good yields. Bromo substituted acyl bromides show better insect antifeedant activity.