Fungicidal efficacy assessment of synthesized Monochloro Benalaxyl

Increase in global population demands need for more food and farmers engaged in crop protection use pesticides to control disease, weeds and insects to enhance agricultural productivity. However, the side effects of pesticides also increase parallelly. That creates a need to develop a pesticide with low toxicity. Discovery of a new pesticide is very difficult due to the time, cost, and regulatory challenges. Novel pesticide invention through Intermediate Derivatization Approach (IDA) presents a productive tool that can be leveraged for new pesticide molecule discovery quickly in a sustainable way. This approach is faster, greener, and more efficient. Benalaxyl is a successful molecule that protects economically important crops like potatoes, tomatoes, onions, flowers, and grapes from Peronosporaceae. Monochloro Benalaxyl was prepared from Benalaxyl by controlled chlorination by simple and commercially viable procedure using hydrogen peroxide, and hydrochloric acid under mild conditions. It was purified and characterized using GCMS and 1H NMR. Efficacy of Benalaxyl and Monochlro Benlaxyl is compared with herbal pesticide by molecular docking. Fungicide activity of Monochloro Benalaxyl was found to be better than Benalaxyl against Alternaria solani and Phytophthora sp. Furthermore, Monochloro Benalaxyl shows comparable Acute oral toxicity for rat (LD50) when compared to Benalaxyl which was proved by Protox a promising toxicity analyzer. The present results indicate that Monochloro Benalaxyl is a promising candidate for further exploration for fungicidal activity and formulation.