In the search for new agrochemicals which match modern requirements in terms of efficacy, environmental safety, user friendliness, and economic viability, the substitution of molecules with fluorine and fluorinated motifs is an important approach. Besides impacting biological activity, the introduction of fluorine atoms or fluorine-containing substituents in combination with further structural fragments into an active ingredient can influence some specific properties such as degradation in soil, metabolism in plants and target pests, and can result in a more favorable compatibility profile to non-target arthropods or beneficial insects. In the past decade, there has been a remarkable rise in the number of commercial products containing fluorine atoms and/or fluorinated motifs. This enormous increase in fluorine-substituted products (Br &lt;&lt; Cl &lt;&lt; F) demonstrates the importance of halogenation and in particular fluorination of active ingredients. At present, these include for example trifluoro- and difluoromethyl, or trifluoro- and difluoromethoxy groups at aryl or heterocyclic aryl moieties and fragments like 2,2-difluoroethyl, difluoromethylsulfonyl or (F3C)2CF- and (F3C)2C(OMe)-groups. A critical analysis has been carried out with the latest generation of fluorine-containing agrochemicals launched on the global crop protection market in the past 10 years and a few representative herbicides, fungicides and insecticides/acaricides have been selected to illustrate in detail which contribution the fluorine atom or special fluorine-containing substituents have made to current agricultural chemistry.

Latest generation of fluorine-containing agrochemicals

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.