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. 1971;44(1-2-3):43–78.

Structure—activity relationships for insecticidal carbamates*

Robert L Metcalf
PMCID: PMC2428005  PMID: 5315358

Abstract

Carbamate insecticides are biologically active because of their structural complementarity to the active site of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and their consequent action as substrates with very low turnover numbers. Carbamates behave as synthetic neurohormones that produce their toxic action by interrupting the normal action of AChE so that acetylcholine accumulates at synaptic junctions. The necessary properties for a suitable insecticidal carbamate are lipid solubility, suitable structural complementarity to AChE, and sufficient stability to multifunction-oxidase detoxification. The relationships between the structure and the activity of a large number of synthetic carbamates are analysed in detail, with particular attention to the second of these properties.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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