The Insecticides Obtained from Turpentine

Over a period of millions of years there has been a close association, evolution and adaptation between plants and insects. The plants have developed terpenes and their derivatives for their own protection and pollination. The insects interact with these substances, ingesting and using them or their biosynthesized derivatives for their own bio-regulation. They have used them as sex hormones, growth and development hormones and pheromones of behaviour such as feeding, aggregation, alarm, and defence. It is also known that turpentine (the volatile fraction of the pine resin, obtained by its distillation) and some of its derivatives have in their constitution substances known as insecticides. This article reviews the most important products - the thiocyanates, the chlorinated terpenes, the chrysanthemum-carboxylic acids, the terpenes and derivatives and the terpene polymers - discussing their main characteristics, chemical synthesis, advantages and disadvantages.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pestana,Miguel
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Unidade de Silvicultura e Produtos Florestais 2011
Online Access:http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0870-63522011000200015
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Summary:Over a period of millions of years there has been a close association, evolution and adaptation between plants and insects. The plants have developed terpenes and their derivatives for their own protection and pollination. The insects interact with these substances, ingesting and using them or their biosynthesized derivatives for their own bio-regulation. They have used them as sex hormones, growth and development hormones and pheromones of behaviour such as feeding, aggregation, alarm, and defence. It is also known that turpentine (the volatile fraction of the pine resin, obtained by its distillation) and some of its derivatives have in their constitution substances known as insecticides. This article reviews the most important products - the thiocyanates, the chlorinated terpenes, the chrysanthemum-carboxylic acids, the terpenes and derivatives and the terpene polymers - discussing their main characteristics, chemical synthesis, advantages and disadvantages.