Bullish chemical could repel yellow fever mosquitoes
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A naturally occurring chemical that may repel yellow fever mosquitoes can now be made in the laboratory, Indiana University Bloomington scientists report.
"The synthesis requires only seven steps," said organic chemist P. Andrew Evans, who led the research. "It should be quite trivial to scale this up to the production of large quantities."
Gaur acid is a natural skin secretion of the gaur, an Asian wild ox. Preliminary evidence suggests that this chemical discourages the landing and feeding of Aedes aegypti, a common mosquito that carries and transmits the yellow fever virus in some parts of the world.
Evans and his group used a rhodium catalyst to aid the tricky synthesis of gaur acid, also known as bovinic acid. In doing so, the chemists also determined the exact chemical structure of the compound. Their approach is described in Angewandte Chemie, a German chemistry journal.
Article from: Eurekalert.com