Modern agriculture relies on the massive use of agrochemicals, including herbicides. Despite their effectiveness, a continuous use of herbicides sharing the same target has resulted in the selection of weed biotypes resistant to such chemicals. To cope with this problem, the development of new herbicides is an urgent requirement. In this work we applied the Active compound Derivatization Method (ADM) strategy to develop a new tetraoxane (5), derived from the synthetic auxin 2-(naphtalen-1-yl)acetic acid (NAA). Greenhouse bioassays showed that 5 caused chlorosis, necrosis and leaf epinasty in Cucumis sativa. Furthermore, this compound, at the concentration of 1.25 x 10-5 mol L-1, inhibited the growth of important weeds such as Bidens pilosa, Iponomea acuminate, Solanum americanum and Althernantera ficoidea. For some weeds, the compound effect was higher or comparable to those caused by commercial glyphosate and imazethapyr. In addition, degradation studies revealed that 5 is transformed into NAA. The results also showed that 5 could act as photosynthesis inhibitor and as an auxin herbicide. In summary, we have discovered a new compound that may be a useful lead for the development of a commercial herbicide.

The increasing number of antibiotic resistant microorganisms requires the development of new drugs. In this context, natural cadiolides are promising leads as they present potent antimicrobial activity and low cytotoxicity. In this work we report the synthesis of 21 new cadiolide analogues. The synthesis involved a Diels−Alder cycloaddition/ cycloreversion reaction between an oxazole and different ynones, affording four intermediate butenolides (14a-d) in 61-81% yield. These intermediates were subjected to a vinylogous Knoevenagel condensation, followed by demethylation of the methoxylated compounds, affording all 21 analogues in good yields. The antibiotic activity of all compounds was evaluated against a panel of five microorganisms. The bioassays on the microbial growth showed that the cadiolides are more active for Gram-positive than Gram-negative bacteria, and have low activity against the fungus C. albicans. The most active compounds (14b, 15b, 15c and 16e) were effective against S. aureus showing IC50 in the range of 1.8-6.0 µg mL-1. The results also indicated that the nature and position of substituent groups on the aromatic moieties have some effect on the activities.

In this work a series of 2-(2- pyridyl)quinolines were prepared via a Povarov reaction between anilines, 2-pyridinocarbadehyde and ethyl vinyl ether under microwaves heating conditions. The optimized conditions herein reported allowed the preparation of several pyridylquinolines in yields in the range of 30-83%, some of them not previously accessible by this multicomponent process. The reported methodology has advantage over previous report due to its larger scope and short reaction time (2 hours). All quinolines obtained were assayed against five species of clinically important yeasts Candida sp and against Cryptococcus neoformans. Some of them possessed a broad spectrum of action including 2-(2-pyridyl)quinoline (20) and 6,8-dimethoxy-2-(pyridin-2-yl)quinolone (22) that were highly effective in inhibiting Candida species (IC50 < 1.95 µg/mL against C. tropicalis and C. krusei). Some compounds were more potent than commercial drugs Nistatin and Miconazole.

Considering the broad spectrum of biological activity of gamma-butyrolactone derivatives, we presented the synthesis of 3,4-dihalo-5-arylidenefuran-2(5H)-ones (17-21) and analogues (24-28) of the natural product nostoclide (7,8). Furanones 17-21 were synthesized from the condensation of aromatic aldehydes with lactones 14 and 15, that were obtained from mucobromic and mucochloric acids. Lactone 15 was converted into the intermediate 23 in 36% overall yield. Compound 23 was then transformed into the nostoclide analogues 24-28. Some of the compounds prepared showed antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus comparable to commercial antibiotics.

The use of analytical pyrolysis combined with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to determine the syringyl/guaiacyl ratio (S/G) in lignins from Eucalyptus spp woods was investigated. Sample of E. grandis and "E. urograndis" wood, with and without extractives, were subjected to pyrolysis from 300 ºC to 600 ºC. The products that results from pyrolysis were identified by mass spectrometry and the S/G ratio was determined based on the areas of the peaks corresponding to the guaiacyl and syringyl derivatives. The best S/G estimation is achieved when pyrolysis is carried out at 550 ºC. Extractives and carbohydrate present in the woods do not interfere with the results.

The chemical analysis of the acetone, chloroform, toluene and methanol extracts of a pitch sample was carried out by IR and GC-MS, leading to the identification of sixty nine compounds, including fatty acids, alcohols and hydrocarbons. Analysis of the acetone extractive of a eucalyptus wood used in Brazil for pulp production was also carried out, resulting in identification of fifty nine compounds, including mainly fatty acids, phenolic compounds, beta-sitosterol and other steroids. This analysis showed that pitch formation had a contribution from wood extractives and other sources of contamination. The results obtained and the methodology applied can be used by the pulp industry to develop new methods of pitch control.

The [4+3] cycloaddition was utilized in order to prepare 8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-en-3-one (1) derivatives. The correspondent acetonide 6 was converted into several alcohols (11-16). Addition of aryllithium reagents to 6 resulted in 3-(2-fluorophenyl)-6,7-exo-isopropylidenedioxy -8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3alpha-ol (11, 72%) and 3-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-6,7-exo-isopropylidenedioxy-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan -3alpha-ol (16, 20%). The 3-butyl-6,7-exo-isopropylidenedioxy-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3 alpha-ol (15, 56%) was obtained through a Grignard reaction. Reduction of 6 resulted in 6,7-exo-isopropylidenedioxy-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3 beta-ol (7, 62%) and 6,7-exo-isopropylidenedioxy-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3 alpha-ol (8, 20%). The alcohols were treated with thionyl chloride in pyridine, and the corresponding alkenes were obtained with 31-80% yield. The effect of these compounds on the development of radicle and aerial parts of Sorghum bicolor was evaluated.

The first chemical study of non-volatile constituents from the bark and stem of Melaleuca alternifolia (Myrtaceae) led to the isolation and identification of 3,3'-O-dimethylellagic acid (1) and five pentacyclic triterpenes: 2alpha,3beta,23-trihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (arjunolic acid, 2), 3beta-hydroxylup-20(29)-en-27,28-dioic acid (melaleucic acid, 3), betulinic acid (4), betuline (5), 3beta-O-acetylurs-12-en-28-oic acid (6), a mixture of fatty acids and esters, and several hydrocarbons. For 2alpha,3beta,23-trihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (2) and 3beta-O-acetylurs-12-en-28-oic acid (6) a first detailed assignment of ¹H NMR is presented.