Chapter 47: Chapter 45 Turn Cockroaches into Protected Animals!
"Pheromones?"
Inside the office.
Looking at the surprised face of Tian Liangwei, Xu Yun nodded affirmatively:
"That’s right, I think the entry point for the Fourth Generation Imidacloprid is pheromones."
Tian Liangwei adjusted his glasses slightly, his expression somewhat serious and perplexed:
"Explain in detail? Xiaoxu, don’t tell me that your method is simply mixing pheromones with imidacloprid in composition— I can buy you twenty sticky sheets for the pheromone of clothes moths for ten bucks on Taobao."
Pheromones, also known as exohormones.
They are substances secreted by one individual to the exterior, detected by other individuals of the same species through olfactory organs, causing the latter to exhibit certain behaviors, emotions, psychological or physiological changes.
For example, adult humans emit pheromones, and there’s even a type of perfume called pheromone perfume for sale.
There is still a debate in the scientific community about the exact composition of human pheromones, but the more widely accepted substances are the male androstenone and the female estratetraenol.
The most abundant areas of pheromones are the armpits and groin, so try smelling those areas—does it differ from the scent on other parts of the body?
Back in high school, Xu Yun had a friend who always said that the scent of a girl in their class was pleasant. Out of curiosity, Xu Yun tried to take a sniff during lineup for the break exercises.
Well, it was a faint scent of body odor.
This reflects the different feedback pheromones provide: those who like it, love it passionately, and those who are indifferent, really dislike it.
So, to some extent, saying "your armpit scent is lovely" could actually be considered a romantic sigh...
In the field of insect pests, the application range of insect pheromones is extensive.
The advantage of pheromones is their strong target specificity, not harming beneficial insects, and no risk of pesticide residues. However, the downside is also their strong specificity, ineffective against other pests, and only effective on adult insects, not the larvae.
Thus, pheromones currently have relatively high limitations, regarded as a supplementary means.
Basically, they are used to attract insects and then trap them with sticky boards or boxes for further treatment.
A more advanced method is mixing pheromones with biological toxins, kneading them together as if making dough, and then attracting pests to consume the poison...
Facing Tian Liangwei’s concerns, Xu Yun first poured him a cup of tea, then said:
"Teacher, I understand your point. Rest assured, I’m not exploiting conceptual loopholes."
He then took out paper and pen, writing as he explained:
"My thought is whether we can use some synthesis technique to combine pheromones with imidacloprid into a new potent poison?
For example, it would possess the alluring function of pheromones while also having the multigenerational spreading effect of imidacloprid? Meaning the pheromones would spread along with the imidacloprid?"
Glancing at Xu Yun’s stream of writing on the paper, Tian Liangwei vaguely understood:
"Synthesize a new type of poison? I think I get your idea a little.
Commonly blended drugs attract targets with pheromones, and after consuming the poison, it spreads, but since it doesn’t carry pheromones, the multigenerational spread curve’s effect won’t be ideal.
Your idea, Xiaoxu, is for the poison to have the pheromones’ effect too, so when the target leaves the bait, it becomes a new pheromone-emitting bait itself, even capable of multigenerational transmission?"
Xu Yun nodded and confirmed:
"Exactly, that’s what I envision for the direction of the Fourth and even Fifth Generation Imidacloprid."
Tian Liangwei pondered carefully, still bearing a somewhat pessimistic expression:
"Technically feasible on paper, but there are many challenges to resolve.
Firstly, the target is single; a pheromone for one insect species only works on adults of that same species. For example, the moth sticky board I mentioned only catches moths, but cannot catch other flies or mosquitoes.
Secondly, synthesizing this involves overcoming corresponding informational barriers, which is tremendously challenging, or else those well-known companies or labs would have done it already."
As he spoke, Tian Liangwei couldn’t help shaking his head.
As he said, almost all current pheromone poisons are made by physically blending methods.
This production method doesn’t accuse production companies of being incompetent because they couldn’t synthesize pheromones with biological toxins into a new substance.
As an authoritative figure in domestic biological hospitals, Tian Liangwei is well aware of how difficult it is to synthesize pheromones with biological toxins. Currently, companies like Bayer, Pfizer, Luo Family, and Novartis are researching in this direction.
A breakthrough in this technology wouldn’t cause much of a stir in the scientific community, let alone a Nobel Prize, not even close to a Karolinska or Lasker award. However, the market it reflects is not negligible.
Of course.
Most of these labs are not combining Imidacloprid as the target but with the third-generation Fipronil.
After all, in those cutting-edge labs, Imidacloprid is like comparing Aoi to Xing Teachers—different eras entirely.
Seeing Tian Liangwei reminisce about some not-so-great memories, Xu Yun remained calm, writing another line on the paper:
"Teacher, take a look at this."
Tian Liangwei instinctively looked at the paper, and after a while, he hesitantly said:
"Is this... methylated alkane?"
Xu Yun nodded, drawing a line across one of the CH3 to represent its removal.
Tian Liangwei uttered softly:
"Single-handed methyl?"
Xu Yun continued to write another line:
CH3(CH2)2CH=CHCH=CH(CH2)8CH3, [Ru(p-cymene)_2Cl_2]_2, (HCHO)n, ZnBr_2, CH_3COON, DCE (CH2CLCH2CL) along with a pyridyl functional group.
"Teacher, do you think this reaction could succeed?"
Upon seeing Xu Yun’s list, Tian Liangwei was initially stunned, then quickly picked up a pen, swiftly calculating on the paper and mentally:
"Remove a CH3... Cyclize the C-H bond... Cut the substrate C-H bond through transition metal catalysis?
Form a directing group intermediate C-M... Huh? It might actually selectively hydroxymethylate with pyridine?"
As everyone knows.
The hydroxymethyl functional group is widely present in drugs and biologically active small molecules. It performs nucleophilic addition on aldehydes, yielding corresponding alcohol, ether, or ester products.
If you remove one CH3 at the upper right of the pheromone alkane and apply Ru catalysis, it theoretically could form a compound with pyridine.
Nonetheless.
This is just a theoretical possibility, with tremendous uncertainty in practice.
Watching his teacher’s expression grow solemn, Xu Yun continued:
"As for your first point..... Yes, pheromones indeed have that limitation.
The target for one kind of pheromone is always one kind of organism—moths are moths, fruit flies are fruit flies, there’s no cross-reference, nothing anyone can change.
So why don’t we simplify this into a targeted screening?"
"Targeted screening?"
Tian Liangwei lifted his eyes, looking at Xu Yun with curiosity:
"What do you mean by this?"
"It’s focusing research in one direction, disregarding others."
Xu Yun shrugged at his teacher, smiling:
"The entire biological toxin field is so vast that there’s no need or ability to cover it all. Since that’s the case, why not choose a harmful pest and develop a targeted, special-effect pesticide?"
"Admittedly, there are many agricultural pests—kill the wireworm, and there’s the cutworm; kill the cutworm, and there’s the bollworm. Unless they’re all exterminated, it’s hard for agricultural products to be free of pests, but besides agriculture, there are many pests around us. Exterminating one of these pests solves a significant problem, offering a much higher cost-effectiveness than agriculture."
"Once this new compound is produced, a certain pest might just be eradicated into a protected species, visible to the next generation only in zoos."
"Like..."
"Cockroaches!"