The Kahr & Ward Groups continue their investigation into Imidacloprid, with the goal of reducing its harmful impact on the environment. This recent JACS study, entitled, "Imidacloprid Crystal Polymorphs for Disease Vector Control and Pollinator Protection," was authored by Molecular Design Institute researchers Xiaolong Zhu (Ph.D 2021, currently at Merck), X-Ray Crystallographer Chunhua T. Hu, Bryan Erriah, Leslie Vogt-Maranto, Jingxiang Yang, Yongfan Yang, Mengdi Qiu, Noalle Fellah (Ph.D 2021, currently at Pfizer) and Professor Mark E. Tuckerman, as well as Professors Bart Kahr and Michael D. Ward.
Kahr & Ward Groups Report Faster-Acting Forms of the Insecticide Imidacloprid, in JACS
Abstract: Imidacloprid, the world’s leading insecticide, has been approved recently for controlling infectious disease vectors; yet, in agricultural settings, it has been implicated in the frightening decline of pollinators. This argues for strategies that sharply reduce the environmental impact of imidacloprid. When used as a contact insecticide, the effectiveness of imidacloprid relies on physical contact between its crystal surfaces and insect tarsi. Herein, seven new imidacloprid crystal polymorphs are reported, adding to two known forms. Anticipating that insect uptake of imidacloprid molecules would depend on the respective free energies of crystal polymorph surfaces, measurements of insect knockdown times for the metastable crystal forms were as much as nine times faster acting than the commercial form against Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex mosquitoes as well as Drosophila (fruit flies). These results suggest that replacement of commercially available imidacloprid crystals (a.k.a. Form I) in space-spraying with any one of three new polymorphs, Forms IV, VI, IX, would suppress vector-borne disease transmission while reducing environmental exposure and harm to nontarget organisms.