Desenvolvimento de insecticidas e/ou fungicidas de inspiração natural: síntese, bioatividades e nanoformulações

This Project is expected to generate original results concerning the following overall goals: - a database of protein targets associated with fungicide and insecticide activity that can be used for the identification of molecules of potential interest for experimental evaluation; - an inverted virtual screening protocol specifically optimized for the set of most-likely insecticide and fungicide targets, that can be applied to libraries of virtual libraries molecules; - an atomic-level interpretation of the binding determinants of the different molecules validated experimentally as active; - design, synthesis and full characterisation of potential insecticides, fungicides and dual fungicides/insecticides, through common synthetic transformations, so as to obtain optimized structures of natural derivatives/analogues with improved pesticides properties; - biological studies of toxicity, as well as insecticidal and fungicidal activities, in order to evaluate the potential of new naturally based derivatives/analogues to act as alternative safe pesticides; - encapsulation of the synthesised compounds in chitosan nanostructures, lipid-based nanocarriers or lipid/surfactant mixtures, to improve their solubility and stability; - obtaining (nano)formulations for the most potential active insecticides, fungicides and dual fungicides/insecticides, to allow their controlled release; - evaluation of biological activity before and after nanoencapsulation and (nano)formulation of structurally optimized compounds; - in vivo studies under controlled environment with the most active molecules synthesized, in plants from horticulture and perennial crops at different stages of development to evaluate the effectiveness of the new products against phytopathogenic fungi and phytophagous insects and side effects on beneficial insects. It stands out the fact that during the entire process, we will make sure that the molecules designed are aligned with the most recent European legislation (Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009), which as banned several molecules owing to their chemistry and resulting toxicity. We are also aware that Sustainable Use Regulation law, which aimed to reduce the use of pesticides in Europe by 50%, was withdrawn by the Commission in February 2024, which means that pesticides will still be largely required.