ABSTRACT
Abstract .................................................................................................................. 312 Keywords ............................................................................................................... 313 13.1Introduction .................................................................................................. 313 13.2Juvenile Hormones, JH Mimics (Insect Growth Regulators),
and Arthropod Repellents............................................................................. 314 13.2.1 Juvenile Hormones and Insect Growth Regulators .......................... 314 13.2.2 Arthropod Repellents ....................................................................... 316
13.3Computer-Aided Molecular Modeling ......................................................... 317
The chapter presents a comparative analysis of quantum chemically calculated stereo-electronic properties of DEET, DEET-like compounds, juvenile hormone mimics (IGRs), and juvenile hormone (JH). The results led to unravel several interesting molecular level information, most signi„cant of which was electrostatic bio-isosterism between the compounds. Observation of similarity of stereo-electronic properties of the amide/ester moiety, negative electrostatic potential regions beyond the van der Waals surface, and large distribution of weak electrostatic potential (hydrophobic) regions in the compounds provided a model for molecular recognition with the receptor at a distance. In addition, the chapter discusses how these stereo-electronic attributes could be organized to develop a feature based on three-dimensional pharmacophore model for arthropod repellent activity and demonstrates how the model could be utilized for search of compound databases to identify new repellent compounds and aid in the design of novel repellents for custom synthesis. Since identity of the target for arthropod repellent activity still remains uncertain, the in silico approaches presented in the chapter should be useful for discovery and design of potentially well-tolerated, target-speci„c arthropod repellents for practical use.
