ABSTRACT
The cyclodiene insecticides constitute a series of chlorinated hydrocarbons that are produced commercially in order to cope with insects and pests against grains and crops. In view of the possible environmental degradation caused by the residue problem of the insecticides, it is desirable that their behavior in the ecological system be more understood so that the degradation products formed by metabolic and environmental conversions of the insecticides can be analyzed and their effects upon living organisms, especially animals and human beings, can also be estimated. Hexachlorocyclopentadiene is undoubtedly located as a key compound for the synthesis of cyclodiene insecticides. The Diels-Alder adducts from this compound have proved to be active in insecticidal properties, some of which are currently used as commercial insecticides. The ability of hexachlorocyclopentadiene to participate in the Diels-Alder reaction was illustrated by E. A. Prill' in 1947 and since that time numerous examples of the cyclo adducts resulting from have appeared.
