Let's Annihilate Cockroaches into Endangered Species!

"Pheromone?"

In the office.

Seeing Tian Liangwei's surprised expression, Xu Yun nodded affirmatively:

"That's right, I think the entry point for the fourth-generation Imidacloprid is pheromones."

Tian Liangwei gently pushed his glasses up, his expression a mix of seriousness and confusion:

"Explain in detail? Xiao Xu, don't tell me your method is simply to mix pheromones and Imidacloprid together in terms of ingredients—I can buy you twenty moth pheromone sticky traps from Taobao for ten yuan."

Pheromones, also known as ecto-hormones.

They are substances secreted by an individual to the outside, detected by other individuals of the same species through their olfactory organs, causing the latter to exhibit changes in behavior, emotion, psychology, or physiology.

For example, adult humans emit pheromones, and there are even perfumes called "pheromones" sold.

Currently, the scientific community still debates the specific composition of human pheromones, but the most widely accepted substances are androsta-4,6-dien-3-one for males and estra-4,6-dien-3-ol for females.

Pheromones are most abundant in the underarms and groin. You can smell these areas and see if they smell different from other parts of your body.

When Xu Yun was in high school, a friend always said a girl in their class smelled good. Out of curiosity, Xu Yun took a deep breath during the morning exercise lineup.

Good heavens, it was a faint body odor.

This is the different feedback of pheromones; people who like it love it, while those who are indifferent find it disgusting.

So, in a sense, "Your underarm smells good" is actually a love confession.

In the field of pest control, insect pheromones have a wide range of applications.

The advantage of pheromones is their strong target specificity, they don't harm natural enemies, and they pose no risk of pesticide residues. The disadvantage is also their strong target specificity; they are ineffective against other pests and only work on adult insects, not larvae.

Therefore, pheromones currently have significant limitations and are considered an auxiliary method.

This involves using them to attract insects, then trapping them with sticky boards or boxes for further processing.

A more advanced method is to mix pheromones with biological toxins, stir them together like dough, and then lure the target pests to eat the poison.

Facing Tian Liangwei's concerns, Xu Yun first poured him a cup of tea and then said:

"Teacher, I understand what you mean. Don't worry, I'm not exploiting a loophole in concept."

He then took out paper and a pen, and began to explain as he wrote:

"My idea is whether we can combine pheromones and Imidacloprid into a new potent poison through some synthesis technology?

For example, can it possess both the attraction function of pheromones and the multi-generational transmission effect of Imidacloprid? Meaning, can the pheromones spread along with the diffusion of Imidacloprid?"

Looking at the few lines Xu Yun had written on the paper, Tian Liangwei vaguely began to understand:

"Synthesize a new poison? I think I'm starting to get your meaning.

Ordinary mixed drugs attract the target with pheromones, causing it to ingest the poison and then spread it. However, due to the lack of pheromones being carried, the multi-round transmission effect curve is usually not ideal.

But Xiao Xu, your idea is to make the poison itself have pheromone effects. After the target leaves the bait area, it becomes a new pheromone-emitting bait itself, potentially transmitting for multiple generations?"

Xu Yun nodded, affirming, "That's right, this is the direction I believe the fourth-generation, or even fifth-generation, Imidacloprid should take."

Tian Liangwei pursed his lips and pondered carefully, his expression still not optimistic:

"Theoretically, it seems feasible, but there are many technical problems to solve.

First, the target is singular. The pheromone of one insect species can only be effective on adult insects of the same species. For example, the moth sticky traps I mentioned earlier can only catch moths; they can't catch flies or mosquitoes at all.

Second, the synthesis requires breaking through corresponding pheromone barriers, which is extremely difficult. Otherwise, those well-known companies or laboratories would have already achieved it."

As he spoke, Tian Liangwei couldn't help but shake his head.

As he said, almost all current pheromone-based poisons are made through physical mixing.

This production method doesn't mean the manufacturers are foolish; it's because they are unable to synthesize pheromones and biological toxins into a completely new substance.

As a leading authority in domestic biological medicine, Tian Liangwei naturally understands how difficult the synthesis of pheromones and biological toxins is. Companies like Bayer, Pfizer, Roche, and Novartis are all researching this direction.

Such a technological breakthrough wouldn't cause much of a stir in the scientific community; forget the Nobel Prize, it wouldn't even come close to the Fields Medal or Lasker Award. However, the market it reflects is not insignificant.

Of course.

Most of these laboratories are not targeting Imidacloprid, but the third-generation Dinotefuran.

After all, in those cutting-edge laboratories, Imidacloprid is to Dinotefuran as Aoi is to Sora—they belong to different eras.

Seeing Tian Liangwei lost in thought, perhaps recalling some unpleasant memories, Xu Yun remained calm. He wrote another line on the paper:

"Teacher, please take a look at this."

Tian Liangwei subconsciously looked at the paper. After a moment, he said hesitantly, "This is... methylated alkane?"

Xu Yun nodded and drew a line through one of the CH3 groups, indicating its removal.

Tian Liangwei raised an eyebrow, "Chiral 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, CH3COON, DCE (CH2ClCH2Cl), and a pyridine functional group.

"Teacher, do you think this reaction can succeed?"

Looking at the line Xu Yun had written, Tian Liangwei was stunned for a moment. He then grabbed a pen and quickly calculated on paper and in his mind:

"Removing a CH3C-H bond for cyclization. Directly cleaving the substrate's carbon-hydrogen bond through transition metal catalysis?

The directing group forms an intermediate C-M... Hmm? It seems it can actually form a selective hydroxymethylation with pyridine?"

As everyone knows.

The hydroxymethyl group is widely present in pharmaceuticals and biologically active small molecules. It undergoes nucleophilic addition to aldehydes, yielding corresponding alcohol, ether, or ester products.

If one CH3 on the upper right corner of the pheromone alkane is removed, under the catalysis of ruthenium, it is theoretically possible for it to form a compound with pyridine.

Of course.

This is merely a theoretical possibility derived from the formula; its practical implementation carries extremely high uncertainty.

Seeing his teacher's expression gradually turn serious, Xu Yun continued:

"As for your first point, you're right, pheromones do have a drawback.

That is, the target of a specific pheromone is always only one type of organism. Moths are moths, fruit flies are fruit flies; they can't be interchanged. No one can change that.

So why don't we just go for targeted screening?"

"Targeted screening?"

Tian Liangwei raised his eyelids and looked at Xu Yun, saying:

"What does that mean?"

"It means focusing on only one direction and ignoring everything else."

Xu Yun spread his hands towards his teacher and smiled, "The field of biological toxins is so vast. We don't need to, nor can we, cover everything. Since that's the case, why don't we choose a particularly harmful pest and specifically develop a highly effective insecticide for it?"

"Indeed, there are many agricultural pests. If you kill cutworms, there are still armyworms. If you kill armyworms, there are still bollworms. Without eliminating them all, agricultural products will find it hard to completely escape pest and disease damage. But besides agriculture, there are quite a few pests in our living environment. Killing even one of them would solve a major problem, and the cost-effectiveness would be much higher than in agriculture."

"Once this new compound can be produced, a certain pest might be eradicated to the point of becoming an endangered species, only to be seen in zoos by the next generation."

"For example."

"Cockroaches!"