Syntheses and Behavioral Evaluations of Fluorinated and Silylated Analogs of Raspberry Ketone as Attractants for the Melon Fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett)

Abstract

Cuelure, the acetate of raspberry ketone, has for many years been the only practical lure for male melon flies, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett). Outdoor olfactometer and field tests of several new analogs of raspberry ketone were conducted in Hawaii. Of the newly synthesized compounds, only 4-(4-((trimethylsilanyl)oxy)phenyl)butan-2-one, the trimethylsilyl ether of raspberry ketone, was highly attractive for male melon flies, being statistically equivalent to cuelure in a 2-d field test. None of several fluorinated analogs of raspberry ketone were nearly as attractive as raspberry ketone itself. The recently reported attractant zingerone did not show significant attractiveness to either male or female melon flies.