Synthesis of Ferroginol as aggregation pheromone of red palm weevil ,Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv., and estimation of its activity in pheromone traps.

Iran is the pioneer in production of palm fruit but mean yield of each tree (27.2 Kg) is low in compare with some other palm producer countries. Palm pests especially harmful weevils play an important role in reducing yield of palm in south of Iran. Palm weevil is the key pest of palm fruit. Use of attractive chemical compound especially pheromones are able to play an important role in controlling of the pest. Aggregation pheromone of this pest has been investigated and analyzed with the help of INRA institute (France). In this joint research project with INRA technology to produce this pheromone made available with Iranian counterpart. It is in the form of 4-methyl 5- nonanol (Ferogineol). It is synthesized in 3 steps in laboratory of PPDRI as follows. After synthesizing this compound, product is formulated in proper plastic packets in 500 milligram. Evaporation of active compound from plastic capsules is estimated 5 milligram per day. Tests in the field with trapping method showed that dispensers which synthesized in PPDRI for catching adult Rhynchophorus ferrugineus olive pest are active as imported dispensers which shows no significance difference between them. Experiments also showed that period changing of plant tissue (pulp of palm tree) in traps has no significant difference in 5% between weeks and two weeks changes. Hence it is recommended on massive trapping operations against this pest, domestic production (PPDRI production) be used due to enhance availability and cheapness. 1) CH3-(CH2)4OH + Cro3.Py.HCl CH3(CH2)3CHO CH3 CH3 2) CH3-(CH2)3-OH + HBr +Toluene CH3-(CH2)3-Br CH3 3) CH3(CH2)3CHO + CH3-(CH2)3-Br + Mg + C2H5Br + I2 + THF CH3 (CH3)-(CH2)3-CH–(CH2)3-CH3 OH 4-methyl 5-nonanol