CHEMICAL IDENTIFICATION OF TRAIL-FOLLOWING PHEROMONE FOR A SOUTHERN SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE

The synthetic procedures for the three isomers of a trail-following pheromone of a southern subterranean termite were described. Two of the isomers had identical spectroscopic properties as the natural pheromone. Only one of the isomers, cis-3,cis-6,trans-8-dodeeatrien-1-ol, showed, however, an outstanding biological activity comparable to the natural product: less than 1 pg of the synthesized pheromone (like the natural pheromone) stimulated worker termites to follow artificially laid trails on ground-glass surfaces. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.