Novel platensimycin derivatives with herbicidal activity.

Background: Faced with the need to develop herbicides with different modes of action on account of weed resistance to existing herbicides, the sesquiterpene lactones can be the starting point in the search for new bioactive compounds. Lumisantonin and five novel amides have been evaluated against two monocotyledons and three dicotyledons.

Results: An efficient and versatile synthesis of lumisantonin and the five novel amides has been accomplished from readily available α-santonin.