During recent years most of the successful developments in pyrethroids have been primarily concerned with structural or compositional variations. As a part of our continuing interest in pyrethroid insecticides, nitrogen-containing compounds having pyrethroid-like structures were synthesized. Seven prolinate compounds, N-(substituted)-phenyl-prolinates and N-carbobenzoxy-prolinates were coupled with known pyrethroid alcohols. These structural variations which "locked in" a specific conformation between the nitrogen and chiral a-carbon in the acid moiety of fluvalinate were studied to determine the influence of certain conformations on insecticidal toxicity. The toxicity data for the prolinate compounds showed intermediate mortality against nonresistant cockroaches. It was concluded that the conformation imposed by the proline ring portion of the esters was probably close to the favored conformation for interaction of fluvalinate-like pyrethroids with the insect receptor site. A second series of nitrogen-containing compounds, twenty-five carbamate esters resulting from the condensation of N-isopropyl-(substituted)-anilines and N-alkyl-(substituted)-benzylamines with appropriate pyrethroid alcohols were studied for insecticidal activity. These studies were conducted on pyrethroid-susceptible houseflies. Some of the carbamate esters exhibited high toxicity when synergized by piperonyl butoxide. For example, the toxicity ( LD 50 ) of O-a-cyano-3-phenoxyfaenzyl-N-a,a-dimethyl-4-bromo-benzyl carbamate was 0.012 ug/g, which is significantly greater than that reported for the potent pyrethroid, fenvalerate. Correlations of insecticidal activity with respect to structure and conformational factors of the carbamate esters have been made. The N-isopropyl substituent decreases insecticidal activity in the N-benzyl-derived compounds, while the N-isopropyl substituent enhances activity in the N-phenyl-derived compounds. Certain substituents on the phenyl ring of both analogs greatly affect insecticidal potency of the carbamate esters. Also, some alkyl substituents (especially, a,cx-dimethyl and a-cyclopropyl groups) on the benzylic carbon of the benzylamine series enhance toxicity. The a,a-dimethyl branching of the N-benzyl carbamate approximates the steric shape given by the gemdimethyl group for conventional cyclopropane ring-containing pyrethroids. The N-benzyl compounds are significantly synergized by piperonyl butoxide, particularly those in which the carbamate nitrogen atom is mono-substituted.

Troger's base was the first amine to be resolved where the chirality was due to solely very high inversion barrier around nitrogen atom. Though the molecule was known for over a century, work done during the past decade has shown that Troger's base and its analogues could be used as chiral solvating agent, DNA binding ligand and for the construction of biomimetic molecular receptors and clathrare hosts. Asymmetric synthesis of the Troger’s base analogues has also been achieved recently. Because of the rigid, 'V'-shaped chiral nature of this molecule, there is growing interest for the use of this unit in the design of potential host systems. This section briefly describes the chemistry of Troger's base developed over a century.