The invasion ofSpodoptera frugiperdahas imposed a serious impact on global food security. Matrine is a botanical pesticide with a broad spectrum of insecticidal activity which was recommended for controllingSpodoptera frugiperda. In order to discover effective insecticide forSpodoptera frugiperda, two matrine derivatives modified with carbon disulfide and nitrogen-containing groups were systhesized. And their inhibition activities onSf9cell were evaluated. The structural configuration of compounds were characterized by IR, HPLC, MS, NMR and XRD, with yields of 52% and 65%, respectively. The IC₅₀of the two newly synthesized compounds onSf9cell reduced to 0.648 mmol/L and 1.13 mmol/L, respectively, compared with that of matrine (5.330 mmol/L). In addition, microscopic observation ofSf9cell treated with the compounds showed that the number of adherent cells decreased, the cells shrunk, vacuolated and apoptotic bodies appeared. The two newly synthesized compounds exhibited better inhibitory effect onSf9cell than that of the parent matrine, suggesting that the positive effect of the introduction of 1-pyrrolidinecarbodithioate and diethylcarbamodithioate groups to matrine. The morphological observation ofSf9cell induced by derivatives indicated that apoptosis induction may be a mechanism that inhibits insect cell proliferation and exerts insecticidal effect.

Matrine is a traditional Chinese medicine and botanical pesticide with broad biological activities, including pharmacological and agricultural activities. In present work, two matrine derivatives have been successfully synthesized via introducing indole and cyclohexylamino to 13 position of matrine, respectively, with sophocarpine as starting material, and structurally characterized via infrared spectroscopy(IR), MS, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and X-ray crystal diffraction. The results of the in vitro biological activity tests showed that these two matrine derivatives exhibited even better activities against human cancer cells Hela229 and insect cell line Sf9 from Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) than that of parent matrine, suggesting that the heterocyclic or cyclic group can dramatically increase the biological activity of matrine. It is worth to mention that 13-indole-matrine could possibly inhibit the growth of insect cells or human cancer cells by inducing cell apoptosis. The results of the present study provide useful information for further structural modifications of these compounds and for exploring new, potent anti-cancer agents and environment friendly pesticides.

Matrine is a traditional botanical pesticide with a broad-spectrum biological activity that is widely applied in agriculture. Halopyrazole groups are successfully introduced to the C13 of matrine to synthesize eight new derivatives with a yield of 78–87%. The insecticidal activity results show that the introduction of halopyrazole groups can significantly improve the insecticidal activity of matrine on Plutella xylostella, Mythimna separata and Spodoptera frugiperda with a corrected mortality rate of 100%, which is 25–65% higher than matrine. The fungicidal activity results indicate that derivatives have a high inhibitory effect on Ceratobasidium cornigerum, Cibberella sanbinetti, Gibberrlla zeae and Collectot tichum gloeosporioides. Thereinto, 4-Cl-Pyr-Mat has the best result, with an inhibition rate of 23–33% higher than that of matrine. Therefore, the introduction of halogenated pyrazole groups can improve the agricultural activity of matrine.