title: Sex pheromone for the brownbanded cockroach is an unusual dialkyl-substituted alpha-pyrone.
abstract: Female brownbanded cockroaches, Supella longipalpa, emit a sex pheromone that attracts males from a distance. This pheromone was isolated and identified as 5-(2,4-dimethylheptanyl)-3-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one (which we refer to as supellapyrone), and its structure was confirmed by synthesis. A racemic blend of the synthetic compound elicited behavioral and electrophysiological responses comparable to the natural pheromone across a range of doses. This compound is not only a very different type of cockroach pheromone but also makes up an additional class of natural products--namely, 3,5-dialkyl-substituted alpha-pyrones.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, NY 14456, USA.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: F X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schal
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sreng
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Roelofs